Abuse victims call on Vatican to strip Cloyne pair of their titles

Bishop Magee and Monsignor O’Callaghan should be punished say victims

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Bishop John Magee

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Victims of the clerical sex abuse outlined in the Cloyne Report have demanded that the Vatican strip Bishop John Magee and Monsignor Denis O’Callaghan of their titles.

The Murphy Commission report into clerical abuse in the Cork diocese clearly states that the Bishop and his assistant repeatedly failed to report abuse claims to the civil authorities.

The report also accuses the pair of failing to handle the allegations properly, siding with the accused and lying to the State authorities.

One female victim told the Irish Examiner: “Those two both abused their titles. Both loved to live the lives those titles entitled them to, yet through those titles they destroyed people’s lives

“They should remember the words of the bible: ‘To whom much is given, much is expected’. The Vatican has to take action.”

Another Cloyne victim also slammed Mgr O’Callaghan’s appearance on various radio stations in the wake of the publication of the damning report.

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She added: “He was a disgrace. To call us ‘accusers’ as if we were telling lies about what happened to us? And to actually say ‘I’ll be back” when this ‘blows over’, as if he was Arnie Schwarzenegger, just shows he hasn’t a clue.

“Not only did they let us down and the Church but they let down all the people of Cloyne. And for Bishop John Magee to run off like that and not stay around to face the people was just total cowardice.”

A third victim described a letter from current Archbishop Dermot Clifford to all parishioners as meaningless.

“Words mean nothing to me. It is too late. If Magee, Clifford and O’Callaghan had thought about victims, we wouldn’t be where we are,” she said.

“The least they could do is offer to surrender those titles themselves.

“We shouldn’t have to be demanding that they are stripped of those titles. I can see from the report and from our own experiences, they were forced into apologies. They don’t want to apologize.

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