Former Dublin auxiliary bishop Dermot O'Mahony has strongly criticized Archbishop Diarmuid Martin for not supporting his fellow priests in the Dublin archdiocese.
O'Mahony has also called on priests to question the Murphy report and the claims of a blanket cover-up of child abuse.
O'Mahony wrote several letters to Dr Martin about the issue and the correspondence was subsequently published in the Irish Catholic newspaper.
"The archbishop did nothing to counteract the statement of the Murphy report, widely circulated in the media, that the majority of clergy knew and did nothing. Indeed, I feel he made matters worse by giving an example of a parish that could be clearly identifiable to the priests of the diocese,” wrote O'Mahony.
O'Mahony defended the Dublin archdiocese attitude and actions towards sex abuse claims in previous years. He also criticized Martin for calling the "previous management of cases" as "inexcusable". O'Mahony was one of those criticized in the Murphy report for his poor handling of sexual abuse claims.
"To suggest our approach failed to take cognizance of the safety of children is inaccurate and unjust. The acceptance by media and current diocese policy that a cover-up took place must be challenged,”
“I said that your criticism was unfair. You were out of the diocese for 31 years and had no idea how traumatic it was for those of us who had to deal with allegations without protocols or guidelines in the matter of child sex abuse."
Archbishop Martin replied to the claims by O'Mahony in a letter dated December 2nd 2009. The letter was published by the Irish Times newspaper.
Martin criticized O'Mahony for not publicly expressing regret or remorse for the poor handling of sexual abuse claims.
"Your comments at Monday’s meeting of the Diocesan Council left me extremely concerned in your criticism and even rejection of the findings and of many of the underlying presuppositions of the commission of investigation into the sexual abuse of children by priests in the archdiocese of Dublin,” said Martin.
"I regret – and I know that this regret is shared by many believing people in the parishes in which you served – that your commitment as auxiliary bishop to the priests and people of the diocese now appears tarnished by the findings of the report and your refusal to recognise that fact," wrote Martin.
Following the publication of the Murphy report, O'Mahony claims that he sent a letter of apology to Archbishop's press office but it was never published.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.WeWantJustice | Sep 22, 2010, 11:05 AM EDT
Don't you hate it when you mistype 30,000
WeWantJustice | Sep 22, 2010, 10:07 AM EDT
You don't need guidelines When things are clearly wrong! It is aPolice matter! The Pope was the architect of the cover up whilst in the inquisition! at that time he had 3,000 files that he should have handed over to the Police! I suspect there are thousands more now!!!
Carroll09 | Feb 10, 2010, 11:25 AM EST
Furthermore, it's worth bearing in mind that it was NOT Bishop O'Mahony who made his correspondence with the Archbishop public. He sent the correspondence to the Archdiocesan Council of Priests and stated that it was up to them to decide what to do. They decided that it should be made public and thus it appeared in The Irish Catholic newspaper.It has subsequently emerged that the majority of priests in the Archdiocese believe that Archbishop Martin is a divisive figure.I don't want to take away from the fact that there are abuse victims suffering,but the priests of the diocese,like any other employees,deserve to have a supportive employer (the Archbishop)-justice for victims,yes;but Archbishop Martin must remember that he has another 1 million laity & priests in his care doing the best they can in their communities-surely they deserve his support too.
Carroll09 | Feb 10, 2010, 11:13 AM EST
I'm not defending what wrongs Bishop O'Mahony did as shown in the Murphy Report,however it is not true to say that he is clueless and without remorse.The above article does not tell us that Bishop O'Mahony was,in fact,the first of the auxiliary bishops to give a statement-this was about a month before the report was made public.He sent his statement-which was certainly not lacking in remorse-to the media office of the Archdiocese.The Archbishop of Dublin saw the statement but the Archdiocese NEVER PUBLISHED IT.Two months later,Archbishop Martin accused him of not showing remorse!Yet he was the first to do so-or would have been had he not been censored by the Archdiocese.
Southernpride | Jan 29, 2010, 09:31 AM EST
So sad
KathyCallahan | Jan 29, 2010, 12:16 AM EST
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Voice-of-the-Faithful-targets-new-Irish-Catholic-bishop-over-child-sex-abuse--80465207.html when i was a member of voice of the faithful in boston 1999-2001 the church tried hard to demonize, obstruct and shut us -Voice of the Faithful down. True.
KathyCallahan | Jan 29, 2010, 12:07 AM EST
Graphic external and supportive organizing structures such as -child abuse and protection Now guidelines and strict adherence to formal procedures as to how, when, where and who should immediately deal with complaints about children being used, raped, molested and generally physically and emotionally abused by offenders in any institution or society. But if you don't have ready access to external guidelines to inform and enlighten your behavior. That's no excuse for not calling forth within yourself the most basic, soulful and compasXionate instincts as to what is right, good and criminal pedophile behavior...that informs you to see, set and uphold basic standards of decency and lines that you would never ever even dream of crossing in the presence of a child In order to further your own selfish, vile and criminal urges that should be locked up far away from all the kids and their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Individual adults who happen to be Irish Catholic priests and also those who oversee their daily parish practices and ministering to children, teens and families must join the ranks of -the rest of us -who honor and abide by state and national criminal and also child protection -safety and welfare laws and order If not now when will we ->Weed the wild pedophiles out?
KathyCallahan | Jan 28, 2010, 02:41 PM EST
O'Mahoney, is utterly clueless, extremely dangerous and possesses horrendous judgment and no remorse. He goes on about how traumatic it was for him/them not to have adequate guidelines! What about the direct access he had to criminal laws and priests turning themseklves or being turned into garda or judges immediately for hearings. O'Mahoney sys, "You were out of the diocese for 31 years and had no idea how traumatic it was for those of us who had to deal with allegations without protocols or guidelines in the matter of child sex abuse."