Oaths of Silence Forced On Fr. Brendan Smyth's Victims

[WTTR]

So be it; but he stood by and watched for a further 20 years while the man he protected continued to abuse children and did nothing. Now do you get it?

The rest of your post has nothing to do with this thread.

I do get your point. But I must reiterate that the primary responsibility for these children would be the people in loco parentis. They failed in their duty of care. This is the real scandal: some people do not show enough respect for children in the absence of one of their biological parents. I always remember Michelle Smith been interview about one of her swimming trainers who was subsequently charged with child abuse. She said that she was surprised because she never saw anything about him that revealed this side of his nature. The difference was that her father always went with her for her swimming lessons, even at four in the morning!

I doubt that Cardinal Brady watched Brendan Smith from the sidelines for a further 20 years. These child molesters do not publicise their continued activities. The problem is that the Church moves these people around; whereas if they left him in the one place than that neighbourhood can protect itself by being aware of his activities etc.

I knew of a lay teacher who was always accompanied by an adult whenever he had anything to do with scouts etc. The scouts were aware of this too. Child abusers will always be with us. We must concentrate on bringing about the ideal place for rearing children i.e. with their biological parents with one at home, so that stories, gossip, dangers can be kept abreast off.

Shamelessly, we have gone about dismantling many of the safeguards to enable this priority situation by dismantling many of the Christian teachings in our public laws. We now have a society that run with the fox and hunt with the hounds. We denounce Cardinal Brady because we assert that he does not practise what the Church teaches; yet we do not realise that the whole Child Care scenario is much more complicated because society has rejected most of the doctrines that he preaches.

Do we report a serial adulterer with kids by a number of different women to the guards or who is responsible for this scenario? Who exacts retribution? Is it our State with no money that is ultimately responsible?

In other words: we are completely and utterly lost and we get worked up over situations that mean absolutely nothing like the proposal to abolish the Seanad. God is not selective; if we want him in some parts of life than we have got to strive to include Jesus and the Church Doctrine throughout the whole of life. Then such a situation as the Brendan Smith affair would have been nipped in the bud.[COLOR="DarkRed"] It is a brave man that becomes a priest in our days![/COLOR]

[Newsy]

Does anyone know, was there a family member/guardian/solicitor present, at these meetings, on the side of the victims???

[anewbeginning]

Just how Brady could put Brendan Smyth to the back of his mind and the knowledge of what Smyth done and was likely to do again is beyond me.

It must be that he thought it would be easier to progress within the Catholic Church by staying quiet on Smyth than going against the grain.

And that't the problem in the church. To do right was to go against the grain, the grain set by the hierarchy in Ireland and in Rome.

Having said that, the Gardai in those days were as bad as the church, the judiciary and the politicians. Reporting something to the Gardai would probably have met with the same indifference as reporting it to the bishops.

[Andrew49]

Just heard Andrew(?) Madden, a victim and a very articulate one at that.
He says, and it is maybe what we should be discussing on here, that theTaoiseach should speak on the government's position. The gov has the role of defending its citizens and the recent Shatter revelations point up how badly they do that. In relation to the rcc they must speak out on the roles and responsibilities where the state has allowed the rcc to have ipso facto roles in schools and hospitals management. In the light of Brady's refusal to acknowledge any responsibility for his actions or those of his organisation vis a vis crimes he and they knew were committed then the government must speak out.
IMO, they must set in motion a change in the role of the rcc in management of state funded activities.

Bye, Barry

The Government is very quiet on this.

Call to extend the remit of Murphy Commission nationwide

[MichaelR]

Suggestion: introduce mandatory oath to follow the law of the land, "to the exclusion of canon law or any other religious regulations", for all religious leaders in the State.

[MichaelR]

Shamelessly, we have gone about dismantling many of the safeguards to enable this priority situation by dismantling many of the Christian teachings in our public laws.

Do you claim that, prior to the beginning of such removal, such situations did not happen or happened significantly more rarely?

God is not selective; if we want him in some parts of life than we have got to strive to include Jesus and the Church Doctrine throughout the whole of life. Then such a situation as the Brendan Smith affair would have been nipped in the bud.[COLOR="DarkRed"] It is a brave man that becomes a priest in our days![/COLOR]

Just how much of such inclusion was removed by 1975, when he was already offending?

[blackpitts]

Suggestion: introduce mandatory oath to follow the law of the land, "to the exclusion of canon law or any other religious regulations", for all religious leaders in the State.

Religious leaders are already obliged to follow the law of the land. If they fail to do so they should be prosecuted, plain and simple.

Canon law has no more legal status in this state than the members' rules of a private golf club.

[Newsy]

Asked why he did not see it as a moral obligation to ensure the police were alerted, the Catholic primate said today: “Yes, I knew that these were crimes, but I did not feel that it was my responsibility to denounce the actions of Brendan Smyth to the police.”
He said he had helped gather evidence for the church to stop Smyth operating as a priest, and that thereafter it was the relevant bishop, plus Smyth’s religious order, who had responsibility for the case.

“Now I know with hindsight that I should have done more, but I thought at the time I was doing what I was required to do. Not just that, but most effectively, I can tell you, I acted with great urgency to get that evidence and to produce it and I believed that in doing so I was following the most effective route to have this stopped and that was my main concern and always has been – the safety of children,” he said.

Dr Brady claimed that wider society handled child abuse cases differently in the 1970s.

“There was a culture of silence about this, a culture of secrecy, that’s the way society dealt with it.”


Read more: Brady: Only the Pope can tell me to go | BreakingNews.ie

[sondagefaux]

Dr Brady claimed that wider society handled child abuse cases differently in the 1970s.

“There was a culture of silence about this, a culture of secrecy, that’s the way society dealt with it.”

Which organisation claimed to provide moral leadership for that society?

[Toland]

Which organisation claimed to provide moral leadership for that society?

Indeed which organisation single-handedly defined the moral culture of the time?

Brady's declaration is quite simply self-serving dishonesty.