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

[sondagefaux]

I doubt that provision could be used, it would be too hard to prove, there's constitutional protection for religion and protection in the European Convention on Human Rights.

Reply to an email sent to UTV asking them if they had proof that Brady's signature was on a finalised agreement, containing a confidentiality clause, with an alleged victim of clerical abuse.

Thank you for your email regarding UTV Live Tonight.

In response to your query, this was a draft letter in which the Archbishop was named as a defendant. We made clear he was not a signatory to the final agreement.

Sorry UTV, but that was certainly not made clear in your initial reports.

The Pope's Pastoral Letter to Irish Catholics will be released at 12 noon Italian time tomorrow.

[Toland]

I doubt that provision could be used, it would be too hard to prove, there's constitutional protection for religion and protection in the European Convention on Human Rights.

Reply to an email sent to UTV asking them if they had proof that Brady's signature was on a finalised agreement, containing a confidentiality clause, with an alleged victim of clerical abuse.

Thank you for your email regarding UTV Live Tonight.



Sorry UTV, but that was certainly not made clear in your initial reports.

The Pope's Pastoral Letter to Irish Catholics will be released at 12 noon Italian time tomorrow.

Thank you SF. In the initial broadcast report it was not made clear that he was not a signatory to the agreement. Indeed they did everything short of outright lying to make the viewer think that he had.

[Andrew49]

The Pope's Pastoral Letter to Irish Catholics will be released at 12 noon Italian time tomorrow.

[SIZE=4]PREVIEW[/SIZE]

[wombat]

I see no difference between someone who knows about the crimes of a bank robber, burgular, etc and doesn't report them to the police and a bishop who didn't do the same with an abusive priest.

Is there a law which requires you to report a bank robbery?

[captainwillard]

Is there a law which requires you to report a bank robbery?

I doubt it very much. I think teachers are very cautious about reporting suspicions. Once reported, it cannot be undone.

[sondagefaux]

Is there a law which requires you to report a bank robbery?

There was in 1975. Misprision of felony - look it up.

In the meantime, Monsignor Dooley has been given a kicking in the Irish Independent.

He is the same priest who in 2001 branded Celia Larkin as Bertie Ahern's "concubine" and said priests could ignore state law to marry 14-year-old girls, according to church laws.

His boss Archbishop Dermot Clifford silenced the cleric on Thursday but none of the hierarchy intervened when Dooley made even more outrageous comments eight years ago.

Speaking then about paedophile priests, the canon law expert said it was not up to the church to give files on child abuse to the gardai.

He said bishops were entitled to ignore criminal law and to conceal a paedophile cleric's actions from the authorities -- even if it meant going to prison.

Mgr Dooley said bishops were not required to report past cases of sexual abuse and might even shelter the priest. "As far as the church is concerned, its laws comes first," he said.

The priest provoked fury earlier this week after he said he would not tell gardai if a paedophile priest confessed to him.

Yesterday Fr Michael Canny, speaking on RTE radio's 'Today with Pat Kenny', said: "I do not know the monsignor, but he is a grade A1 idiot."

Mgr Dooley's views were clearly no different in 2002 when he said: "A bishop swears allegiance to canon law. If there was a real conflict, he would simply have to maintain canon law, even if there was a chance of going to jail."

"A bishop's first obligation is to make sure that the abuse does not continue. Past offences and the danger of future offences are two different things.

"He does not have an obligation to see to it that his erring priest is punished in civil law. He is a kind of father figure towards his priest."

In 1999 he said that, since the church allowed girls to marry at 14 and boys at 16, priests could officiate at such marriages with " tranquil consciences", even if they were breaking state laws.

Controversial cleric a 'grade A1 idiot', says colleague - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie

[sondagefaux]

A fine example of prompt action and co-operation with the Gardaí.

A PRIEST who was part of a campaign to encourage more men to join the priesthood is no longer carrying out parish duties after pleading guilty to 14 counts of theft.

The Irish Independent has learned that Fr Loughlain Carolan was given the Probation Act at a sitting of the District Court last week.

A spokesman for the Bishop said the priest was asked to take administrative leave and he did so voluntarily.

Asked how long would the leave be, he said it depended on how things developed.

Fr Carolan was charged under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act (Theft and Fraud) and is now on probation.

The sums of money -- which ranged from €272 to €4,000 -- were taken through the misappropriation of cheques from the St Mary's Church parish account.

The parish accounts were investigated and a number of discrepancies were found. When confronted with this, Fr Carolan repaid a sum totalling €13,662 in 2008.

The sum misappropriated amounted to about 20pc of the St Mary's Church offertory income over the two-and-a-half year period which the charges covered.

Bishop O'Reilly later referred the matter to the gardai, who then sent a file to the DPP. Charges were brought and the case was heard before Judge Sean McBride last week.

As this was his first offence and was deemed to be minor, the charges were dismissed under the Probation Act.

Cleric who stole cash no longer carrying out parish duties - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie

[Andrew49]

A fine example of prompt action and co-operation with the Gardaí.

Cleric who stole cash no longer carrying out parish duties - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie

If only there had been prompt action and co-operation when clergy were stealing children's childhoods!

[sondagefaux]

If only there had been prompt action and co-operation when clergy were stealing children's childhoods!

They're quick to protect their money, not so quick to protect children.

[Tom Red]

I'd like to see some government actions stating in no uncertain terms that canon law comes second to Irish law. Why it seems to be kowtowed to at all, I have no idea.