Cleric's abuse comments cause 'distress' says Clifford

PUBLIC COMMENTS by the former delegate for the safeguarding of
children in the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne, Msgr Denis O’Callaghan, were
causing “distress and hurt to victims of child sexual abuse and their
families”, Archbishop Dermot Clifford has said .

The Archbishop of Cashel and Emly has asked the retired monsignor to “refrain from any further public comment” on the matter.

His remarks came after Msgr O’Callaghan wrote to the
Irish Catholic saying he should have resigned as child
protection delegate when he realised the implications of child
protection guidelines published in 1996.

The Cloyne report, which
examined child sexual abuse in the Cloyne diocese, was highly critical
of the monsignor for his failures in reporting complaints of child
sexual abuse. 

It said he failed to understand that the requirement to
report included in the guidelines was for the protection of other
children.

In his letter, Msgr O’Callaghan said his focus was
always on the pastoral care of “everyone suffering the consequences of
sex abuse, primarily the victim but also the transgressor”.

He said he attended meetings that engaged in the drafting of the
Framework of Guidelines for a Church Response and expressed concern that mandatory reporting compromised the “fundamental Christian duty of pastoral care”.

For
most of the priests accused in Cloyne, the complaints alleged incidents
dating back more than 30 or 40 years, he said.

“Of those priests some
would now be terminally ill while others would be under constant medical
care.

“The literal guidelines did not allow for any discretion to bishops and to their delegates,” he said.

“The plea that there was no further risk to children was not a protection against a charge of cover-up!”

He
said there was also a problem where a traumatised complainant was not
yet prepared to have the report submitted to gardaí.

“Here some time and
counselling should surely be justified until the complainant came to
accept the need to make the report,” he said.

In some cases, as a
Christian “one was duty bound to extend pastoral care to anyone in sore
need”, he said, “otherwise one could not live with one’s conscience”.

“With
many others I winced when understandably angry people expressed the
wish that an accused priest would burn in hell,” the monsignor said.

He
also said that Judge Yvonne Murphy was made aware of the Cloyne
commitment to pastoral care, but the commission “focused on its remit of
reporting on whether or not procedures were fulfilled”.

“In
hindsight, I accept that I should have resigned on the point of
principle from my role as delegate once I came to realise the
implications of the 1996 guidelines for the overriding duty of pastoral
care,” Msgr O’Callaghan wrote.

Archbishop Clifford
said the monsignor should have resigned once he came to the conclusion
he could not implement the guidelines, which his bishop, Dr John Magee,
had signed up to.

Quoting the Cloyne report, he said that “the
implementation of church guidelines does not, in any way, preclude a
pastoral response. I would re-emphasise that our first priority at all
times must be the protection of children,” Archbishop Clifford said.

“I
would kindly request Msgr O’Callaghan, now retired, to refrain from any
further public comment on this controversy as it will only cause
further distress and hurt to survivors of child sexual abuse and their
families.”

 

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