DUBLIN (IRELAND)
Extra.ie
November 19, 2018
By Emer Scully
An Irish priest who was removed from his ministry in America over a sexual abuse allegation went on to serve for 20 years in Ireland, where new allegations of abuse emerged, Extra.ie has learned.
Fr Joe Seery fled to Ireland in 1978 while police in New Orleans were investigating the case of sexual abuse of a male minor, and was immediately appointed on special assignment to Knock, Co. Mayo, in preparation for Pope John Paul II’s visit.
New allegations of sexual abuse arose when he was moved to a small parish in Connemara, according to Fr Pat Buckley, who was ordained with Fr Seery in Waterford in 1976 – just two years before sexual abuse allegations arose in New Orleans.
He went on to serve five more parishes in Ireland over a period of 20 years before being pressured into retiring in 1997, aged just 44.
Details of his life have been uncovered for the first time after the Archdiocese of New Orleans published a file on priests who had been removed from ministry for sexual abuse allegations, as part of a new policy of openness in the American Catholic Church.
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