Catholic World News News Feature

Sex-abuse report rocks Irish Church October 27, 2005

Both Church and government leaders in Ireland have been shaken by the October 25 publication of a report showing a systematic failure to curb sexual abuse by priests in the Diocese of Ferns.

The report, prepared under the direction of former Supreme Court Judge Frank Murphy, uncovered more than 100 allegations of abuse by 26 priests of the Ferns diocese. The report covered the years between 1962 and 2002; it was based on a government investigation that lasted more than 2 years.

The report on the Ferns investigation faulted police and local officials for their failure to follow up aggressively on complaints of sexual abuse. But the most scathing criticism was leveled against Church leaders who covered up charges, silenced accusers, and ordained "clearly unsuitable men into the priesthood."

The government investigation of the Ferns diocese was organized in 2002, shortly after the resignation of Bishop Brendan Comiskey. Bishop Comiskey had become the focal point for complaints about the Irish bishops' handling of sex-abuse cases, especially after the 1999 suicide of Father Sean Fortune, a priest of the Ferns diocese, who was facing criminal charges on a series of sex-abuse complaints.

Bishop Donal Herlihy, who preceded Comiskey as the head of the Ferns diocese, is also heavily criticized in the report. Bishop Herlihy, who died in 1983, is said to have ordained men whose aberrant behavior was already manifest, and transferred abusers from one parish to another to avoid public disclosure of their misbehavior.

Bishop Eamonn Walsh, who was appointed to head the Ferns diocese after Bishop Comiskey's hurried resignation, said that the report "is a sober reminder to me and to the priests of the Diocese of Ferns of the depth of damage that has been done to those who were abused by priests." Apologizing to the victims, he said: "There are no excuses for what has happened in the past."

The prevalence of sexual abuse uncovered in the Ferns diocese rivals any revelations elsewhere in the world. The number of priests credibly accused of molesting children-- 26, of whom 8 are now dead-- represents nearly 10 percent of the total number of priests who served in the Ferns diocese during the period under investigation.

Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh conceded that the allegations contained in the 270-page Ferns report "make for very uncomfortable readings." The Irish primate said: "The betrayal of trust is horrendous."