SHOCKED by the revelation that child abuser Brendan Smyth continued to prey on children long after the Catholic Church officially became aware of his activities, Brendan Boland was hit with a wave of guilt that, as a 14-yearold boy, he hadn't done enough to stop his reign of terror.
In 1997, he realised that Cardinal Sean Brady was the one who witnessed a document that swore the teen to secrecy.
Mr Boland and his father had been given assurances, after the trauma of the inquisition into the abuse he suffered, that Smyth would be sorted out and dealt with.
When the Dundalk man found out Smyth had been free to abuse dozens of other children, he decided on a High Court action in 1997.
For 14 years, the Church authorities insisted that Mr Boland provide them with proof.
He said: ' They wanted proof of everything. We didn't know where the oath was, where the minutes of the Friary meeting were, but they insisted on proof.
'It was only in 2010, through legal discovery, that the documents came to light. I believe they thought that I would go away, fade into the background and say nothing - but I didn't. It has been a bruising encounter but I had the determination to see it through to the end. I had to go to see psychiatrists three or four times. The Church wasn't happy with one of them and then I had to go and see one of theirs. It extended the agony and misery for me'.
The entire episode - from the abuse to the legal battle - has taken its toll on Mr Boland.
He said: ' In the intervening years, it had a big impact on me. I wouldn't let my children join the altar boys or school tours where there was a male head teacher. I feel that I have deprived them of a lot of things like that in their lives'.
No comments:
Post a Comment