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Damning report into church's sex-abuse secrecy
Source: Agencies |
November 27, 2009, Friday
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THE Roman Catholic archdiocese of Dublin obsessively covered up widespread sexual abuse of children by priests until the mid-1990s in a misuse of the church's central role in Irish society, an official report said yesterday.
The government-commissioned inquiry into abuse in the Irish capital from 1975 to 2004, which came six months after a similarly damning report about church-run industrial and reform schools, also accused state officials of abetting the cover-up.
The report, designed to show how church and state responded to charges of abusing children, said a representative sample of 46 priests made "abundantly clear" that it was widespread. "The Dublin Archdiocese's preoccupations in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse, at least until the mid-1990s, were the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the church, and the preservation of its assets," the report said.
"All other considerations, including the welfare of children and justice for victims, were subordinated to these priorities," added the report, which was published by the justice ministry.
Similar abuse cover-up charges have dogged the Catholic Church in other countries, especially the United States. Seven dioceses there have filed for bankruptcy protection to shield themselves from lawsuits by abuse victims.
Abuse cases have also been reported elsewhere, notably in Australia, Austria, Britain, Canada, France and Poland.
The Irish report said the Church was "obsessively" concerned with secrecy and operated a policy of "don't ask, don't tell" about abuse.
The government-commissioned inquiry into abuse in the Irish capital from 1975 to 2004, which came six months after a similarly damning report about church-run industrial and reform schools, also accused state officials of abetting the cover-up.
The report, designed to show how church and state responded to charges of abusing children, said a representative sample of 46 priests made "abundantly clear" that it was widespread. "The Dublin Archdiocese's preoccupations in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse, at least until the mid-1990s, were the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the church, and the preservation of its assets," the report said.
"All other considerations, including the welfare of children and justice for victims, were subordinated to these priorities," added the report, which was published by the justice ministry.
Similar abuse cover-up charges have dogged the Catholic Church in other countries, especially the United States. Seven dioceses there have filed for bankruptcy protection to shield themselves from lawsuits by abuse victims.
Abuse cases have also been reported elsewhere, notably in Australia, Austria, Britain, Canada, France and Poland.
The Irish report said the Church was "obsessively" concerned with secrecy and operated a policy of "don't ask, don't tell" about abuse.
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