Relief for victims as priest quits child safety role

CLERICAL abuse campaigners and victims have welcomed a decision by a priest to quit as a diocesan child protection delegate.

Fr Bill Bermingham stepped down from his role in the Diocese of Cloyne in Cork after controversy over his handling of a case involving an allegation of sexual abuse against a priest in the diocese.

Fr Bermingham was criticised for making the allegations available to the priest concerned. A woman had accused the priest of abusing her as a young child two decades previously, and had spoken with Fr Bermingham. It is understood that a number of other priests also saw the statement.

John Kelly, a representative of Survivors of Child Abuse, told the Irish Independent yesterday that he welcomed Fr Bermingham's resignation but was disturbed by his actions in his post.

"I welcome the fact that he has resigned but there are a lot of questions to be answered," Mr Kelly said. "You would have to question how competent he was and how competent those who appointed him were.

Ineptitude

"The church hasn't learned anything. There has to be radical reform. The bishops cannot be trusted to deal with child abuse cases. It is just ineptitude. Anything they do right, they have to be dragged screaming into it."

The One in Four organisation has also described the episode as a horrific betrayal by the Cloyne diocese.

Fr Bermingham was appointed in 2008 after the National Board for Safeguarding Children CEO Ian Elliott accused former Bishop of Cloyne John Magee of pursuing "inadequate and, in some respects, dangerous" protection policies, which put children at risk in schools and the community.

At the time, the appointment was welcomed as a sign of a new regime in Cloyne.

But in a statement over the weekend, Fr Bermingham said the way he handled the matter "caused further distress to the complainant".

He stressed that it was vital that anyone occupying the role of designated officer/delegate in the church should have the complete confidence of victims of child sex abuse and of persons wishing to report abuse, and tendered his resignation. He had earlier defended his actions.

Father John McCarthy is to act on a temporary basis in the role of Designated Person on behalf of the diocese.

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