Bishop who fathered child accused of abuse
An RTÉ documentary alleged that the Bishop of Galway abused five victims including his five-year-old niec
The Taoiseach Simon Harris said Church authorities have “questions to answer” over why they “misled and betrayed” people over the allegations of abuse against Bishop Eamonn Casey.
“Bishop Casey's Buried Secrets”, an RTÉ documentary, alleged that the former bishop of Galway, who died in 2017, was investigated by the Vatican over abuse allegations concerning five people, including his own niece, Patricia Donovan.
The Diocese of Limerick, where he was ordained in 1951, received the first complaint of child abuse against Casey in 2001.
Two further complaints, referring to the 1950s and 1960s were received in 2005 and in 2014. The diocese made a €100,000 settlement to one victim.
In 2006, the Irish bishops announced that Eamonn Casey was retiring to Ireland from Britain where he was serving in the diocese of Arundel and Brighton.
The documentary makes clear that the Vatican had at that point received at least two allegations of child sexual abuse against him and that he was returning from the English diocese over safeguarding concerns,
The Vatican told the RTÉ programme that Casey was “never reinstated” to public ministry despite pressure from him.
“Let’s remember, Irish people believed Eamonn Casey had been stripped of his ministry for a very different reason to what has now emerged,” Harris said in a reference to the fact that most people believed the disgraced bishop was out of ministry over fathering of a child with Annie Murphy.
“The fact that those facts were concealed, that people were misled and betrayed, has caused a lot of hurt,” the Taoiseach told the Sunday Independent.
“It has yet again shown a betrayal by church authorities of the Irish people,” Mr Harris said.
He appealed to Galway diocese to make their decision over the disinterment of Bishop Casey’s remains from the crypt of Galway Cathedral “victim-centred”.
In a statement, Galway diocese said the decision required “a period of careful consideration and consultation”.
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