35 Comments

• micotool | Apr 14, 2012, 10:37 AM EDT

  That photo is NOT Patrick Joseph McCabe

• blessusnsaveus | Apr 08, 2011, 11:13 PM EDT

  The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. As a victim I want to affirm that for me and for all the other victims I have met, the issue is never about money it is about the evil in the church. If a lawyer is willing to fight for victims I don't care if he makes good money doing it. The evil of abuse itself is personal evil, committed knowingly by certain priests and religious. The evil of the cover up, obfuscation and re-assignment of known criminals is systemic evil, and I believe, of a much greater concern. While an individual priest might be psychologically ill or disordered, the community of bishops in our church, world-wide, cannot claim that as an excuse. And sadly the only thing that has been shown to make the bishops respond to this issue has been lawsuits. What kind of statement about Catholic virtues is that. They will only do the right thing...help victims pay for medical costs, or provide the files of the abuser priests for example...if a judge makes them, and only then if they can't find another way out.

• christiangerri | Apr 06, 2011, 11:23 PM EDT

  This is a CRUCIAL CASE. God willing , Ireland officials will help in ANY/all ways they can.If not , the world should prepare AND BET on many more victims in the future.Why not pull all the weeds so they don't grow back . Just think of how scared those children were when "the Catholic System " and they're bishops/officials who not only knew damn well but made Every attempt to cover up knowledge and hide it from authorities by promoting "keeping molestation accusations,in house".DO THE RIGHT THING ,"SET AN EXAMPLE AND make them stop or be forced to live in a society that tolerates these ,"MONSTERS"who feed at the Lords table and in his house.!!Look a quick glance of just how many priests have been found guilty ., that's just the one's who've been caught.They are not above the law or should have ever thought to deny police assistance/filing reports with authories.Wake up people they are holding back info because its dealing with a cult mentality like the worl has never seen

• Temerity | Apr 04, 2011, 07:37 PM EDT

  Pity all the fathers, grandfathers and brothers can't be sued as well.The number of priests is miniscule compared to the rest of human society! As well we tolerate semi nude young females girating to music as entertainment unmarried teenages breeding like rabbits,not to mention homosexuals adopting and setting themselves up as "families" like two fathers per family and two mothers.And we don't even turn a hair. But hey the promise of money improves everyone's morality and memory doesn't it!There are millions who have experienced pedoephilia and manage to rise above it and lead strong productive lives it's called strength of character and human survivial.Ever heard of it? But hey easy money for the "victims" their families and ofcourse the lawyers.What a wrought.Yes stamp it out but this is getting ridicules.Start in your own homes people and take more responsibility for what is happening to your children and in their lives.Don't put the responsibilty for your children onto anyone else and just "tust them".The buck stops with YOU. Sic.

• LilPaddy | Apr 04, 2011, 03:37 PM EDT

  I have more to comment regarding this story (and its like)but when I do... Irish Central will not post them! So I will just say PLEASE STOP CALLING THEM PEDOPHILE "PRIESTS".... As there is no such thing..They are just criminal pedophile's hiding behind a collar.... And that does not make them "Priest's"!!! If the truth be known, it was more than likely a pedophile who climbed his way up to a position where he moved along the culture of Silence and Obediance; which is why the R.C. church (a.k.a. a house without foundation) had to fall down. As a note; that "culture" played a large part in nearly getting me killed in Daingean 1960... Want more info? I' at 951-2647103

• jacersagain | Apr 03, 2011, 03:12 PM EDT

  Bernadett – the fact that you can’t spell your Irish Central screen name correctly (it should be Bernadette, i.e. with an ‘e’ at the end) and the fact that your postings consistently lack correct spelling, Capitalisation and punctuation in the English language, suggests that you don’t have the wherewithal to work in “the financial area” in Ireland and therefore cannot know what any church in Ireland – Greek, Buddhist, Islamic, Protestant, Catholic or other - is worth. Suggesting that the Catholic Church sells its donated art treasures and other un-priceable items - like the few bits of moon rock that American Astronauts donated to the Vatican’s Museum - to raise money for child abuse compensation claims is like suggesting that the gifts that Three Wise Men brought to a baby in a stable should also be sold on (where are those gifts now?). Whichever way one looks at it, given the ‘horrendous filthy history’ that many attacking the Catholic Church claim it has, one would have to ask: “Who, in their right mind, would want to buy the Church’s ‘Filth’? And who would they sell it on to?” There will be no buyers and therefore no shifting sand money for fraudsters. So why are you, Bernie, saying that the Catholic Church is rich? That’s a bit ‘rich’ of you to claim, isn't it?

• Bernadett | Apr 03, 2011, 12:51 PM EDT

  What a joke the church has no money ,i can tell you having worked in the financial area i know what the church in ireland is worth and i can tell you its far from poor also let those in Rome sell some of the gold and paintings they have. Their moto is keep what we have at all costs. The irish goverment knows what they are worth.

• Daytonavejim | Apr 03, 2011, 12:26 PM EDT

  I was not surprised to see that Jeff Anderson is involved in this matter. He and his staff seem to be very good at helping victims recover supressed memories just in time to beat the clock on the statute of limitaions. Since Mr. Horne does dot want any money, I am sure he and Jeff will not accept any settlement and will rest only when this "international conspiracy" is solved. The other question these cases raise is: If the memory was repressed and the victim has no memory of the actions, how do they know that it really happened to them?

• jacersagain | Apr 03, 2011, 12:20 PM EDT

  Question - Does anyone know by what name was the person we know by the name of Jesus Christ was called by His mother Maryam, His father Yousef, and His childhood street friends? I know ‘Christ’ means Messiah. Was it Yesu? Anyone know?

• jacersagain | Apr 03, 2011, 12:06 PM EDT

  @ intercessor - there’s no need for you to point out that the Roman Catholic Church wasn’t around in Jesus’ time, or that He, the Son of God, died a Jew. We already know that. He was buried with Jewish funeral rites, wasn’t He? But with one astounding, miraculous feat, that of rising from being dead to being alive again, He founded the Christian Church. He went on to instruct His Apostles to “Go tell everyone that the Kingdom of God is at hand”. They did so without hesitation, and it was only because Peter went to Rome and died there spreading Christ’s message that the early Christians recognised Rome as the centre of the Universal Christian Church – hence its name today is Roman Catholic Church. My own dearest wish and fervent prayer is that Rome’s Catholic Church and other Catholic Churches - in Russia (under Patriarch Krill), Greece (under Metropolitan Ieronymos), Egypt (under Pope Shenouda III) to mention a few – would get themselves together and re-unite to establish a single Papacy, best desirably in Jerusalem, the birthplace of Christianity. Amen.

• jacersagain | Apr 03, 2011, 11:21 AM EDT

  @ronnie4u2o – That’s a nonsense post! Nobody leaves rotting apples in a barrel of healthy apples. Even the makers of Bulmer's Cider will tell you that. That’s why the Church is sifting to root out the evil within.

• jacersagain | Apr 03, 2011, 11:16 AM EDT

  The photo above! Now I remember who it looks like! Archbishop Dermot Ryan of Dublin. He was a noted liberal A/bishop, much liked by the people of Dublin. However, he was mentioned in the Murphy report on Child sexual abuse as being one who allegedly covered up abuse cases. It is notable that he was dead at the time of the report's accusations and therefore not in a position to defend himself on his actions or inactions.

• ronnie4u2o | Apr 03, 2011, 01:05 AM EDT

  The Catholic Church is only as Good as the People running it. If you mix a few Bad apples in a Box in time all the apples will start to Rot ! Jesus said you will know how good a tree is by its fruit ! The Vatican is the Tree and its Rotten to the core That goes back to over 1800 years it has a corrupt History that has come to light . And the Truth will set you Free ! Corruption breeds Corruption !!!!

• johnsull15 | Apr 03, 2011, 12:00 AM EDT

  Quit quoting the bible, Jesus or anything else they were not there for religion they were there for one thing to get in your pants or beat the living daylights out of you, like brother Ryan and Rice and master Stack and Regan of St Josephs in Drogheda Co Louth Ireland. It was not just Ryan that abused who has already been mentiond in a news article in the local paper by Terry Mc Hugh who was there several years before me. But several others not just brothers and I am not the only one in my time there. Ryan was the head brother when I was there.

• Intercessor | Apr 02, 2011, 11:19 PM EDT

  Jaceragain: You quoted Jesus: It is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle......." Something that wasn't taught in Catholic School is that "The NEEDLE" was a small gate on each of the walls of Jerusalem, that was the only gate open at night. For a camel to get through this small gate, it had to be completely unloaded of its carried goods. Jesus was Jewish! He was not a Roman Catholic. It's too bad that the Catholic Church tried to eliminate as much as it could of Her JEWISH heritage after the 3rd century, when Constantine effectively became the head of the Catholic Church. Jesus was conceived, born, raised, died and was buried a Jew, not a Roman Catholic. At His resurrection, He was still the Jewish Messiah, and the Messiah of the whole world. Sorry to ruin your day!

• barneyjo | Apr 02, 2011, 10:41 PM EDT

  @jacersagain - I wish it were that simple. The very fact that so many crimes against children have been perpatrated within our church, and by its ministers, this makes the church body per se, a part of the problem; I do not share your view that the church has been able to resist the gates of hell as you put it. The weak link here, is the human conditional factor within the church. It is more susceptible to failure, simply because the human conditon dictates that though we be Clergy or laity we are susceptible to fail (maybe even born to fail) That Christ is with us in the world; no doubt. That Christ has and is calling his church on earth to account for its actions (or inactions; no doubt about that either. We cannot know for certain whether Hell will or will not prevail, until we are tested. An old Japanese proverb says "If you fall seven times, get up eight times!!" I think that is what Christ calls on us to do; NOT TO QUIT!!

• Spiddal | Apr 02, 2011, 09:43 PM EDT

  Any idea what happened to the where-a-bouts of "father Pareau (spelling?) formally, 20 years ago, of Saint Bernadett's in Albuquerque, New Mexico?

• JudyJones | Apr 02, 2011, 09:10 PM EDT

  We urge anyone who has knowledge or may have been harmed by Joseph Patrick McCabe. to contact law enforcement or an attorney, not church officials. Sex crimes, however old, should be investigated by the independent professionals in law enforcement, not the biased amateurs in church offices. Rarely does a child predator have only one victim, most often there are many victims. Also if you are a victim of child sex abuse, know that you are not alone, and there is hope, help, and healing. Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director, 636-433-2511 snapjudy@gmail.com "Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests" http://www.snapnetwork.org/

• jacersagain | Apr 02, 2011, 07:47 PM EDT

  Something's bothering me about that photo above, subscripted 'Patrick Joseph McCabe'. I don't think it's him... it looks like a photo that I remember of a former Bishop of me own Dublin city ... can't remember his name right now but it wasn't McCabe.

• Nanaof5 | Apr 02, 2011, 06:40 PM EDT

  I could hardly believe what Mcbreen had to say-Well I guess that prejudices thrive in his home-not pay victims- is this a joke- how do you finally stop all this?With wrong headed thinking like this, I am left to wonder about the intellectual capacity of some people.Sad,very sad indeed oh and by the way mcbreen anti -semitism still seemsto thrive with you. How awful(and ignorant)

• jacersagain | Apr 02, 2011, 06:23 PM EDT

  (...more) The ironic thing about these Irish Church and religious Orders’ lands is that many of them were sold, in recent years to raise monies for abuse compensation payments, to property developers - who built houses and apartment blocks on these lands and who are now themselves bankrupt through their greed in the Celtic Tiger boom years. As Bernadett should know, the Church has only one treasure - Jesus Christ – and no price can be put on that treasure – in fact, it is free to all who listen to His Words. Even if all abused people get monetary compensation, their money will probably end up as sifted sand like the Celtic Tiger property developers found out. Once again, money gained by greedy people like Attorney Anderson and fraudsters will be found to be worthless. “It will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to pass into Heaven” – (This statement is attributed to Jesus Christ).

• jacersagain | Apr 02, 2011, 06:19 PM EDT

  As to Bernadett’s reply to srdools – it is known that the Catholic Church has no money to pay monetary compensation on abuse claims. The Vatican is barely financially existent, surviving on income from souvenirs and sales of Vatican State postage stamps for tourists’ postcards and the once-a-year ‘Peter’s Pence’ donations in Catholic Churches throughout the world (not much donated there, in overall global monetary terms). In Ireland, the Catholic Church was forced to sell what were once places of prayerful solitude and training for young with religious vocations – lands where convents, monasteries and such were built, lands which were donated by Irish people to poverty-sworn religious orders like the Franciscans, Augustinians and various Orders of Nuns, or bought by rich Irish people for them and even bought through donations of poor Irish people, such as for the Christian Brothers founded by Edmund Rice, himself a wealthy Irish businessman who gave up all his wealth to provide schools for the education of young Irish boys, including me when I was a boy. (More...)

• breffnyblue | Apr 02, 2011, 06:13 PM EDT

  The source problem was the lack of other career choices after Secondary school in Ireland up to about the 80's. For the bottom half of the class it was emigrate or become a priest. Many of these priests knew they did not have a 'calling'! The secular Government was at fault to start with and the Religous Hierarchy really compounded it.

• jacersagain | Apr 02, 2011, 06:01 PM EDT

  Interesting article, if poorly presented, by Kate Hickey and some very interesting responses below too. Not knowing anything about Attorney Anderson’s career to date I can’t comment much on his objectives but it seems from posts from USA people below that he is only in it for the money. I agree with Trealach (today at 1.35pm) but also with barneyjo’s response to Trealach’s. Still, I plead with barneyjo not to lose sight of our Church’s true objective despite the horrors and mistakes of the abuse scandals and to remember when he attends Mass next time, that he will be in the presence of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Who will be with us of His Church such that the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. Neither should barneyjo, and those of us Catholics whose faith is challenged by the events within our Church on child abuse allow Hell to prevail on our own individual faith.

• Bernadett | Apr 02, 2011, 04:42 PM EDT

  srdools It would take a long time for that to happen as the catholic church is the richest institutions in the world and they will stay that way because they think more of money than people. We are missing the point its because of them and the cover up they carried out world wide caused thees problems in the first place. I can not believe anyone can blame children for what thees beasts done to them in the name of god.

• barneyjo | Apr 02, 2011, 04:36 PM EDT

  @Trealach (and others)- In terms of the world population of Catholic Clergy, the numbers may indeed be small. However,it is the fact that the crimes of these "predators" were covered up and in some ways validated by the fact that in many cases they were moved by their Bishops/ Superiors across Continents, where they remained at liberty to take the innocence of too many other children who would otherwise not have been subjected to such brutality. In the final analysis, an international conspiracy many not be proven However,what is clear is that Priest abusers were moved from parish to parish,diocese to diocese within their own country Thereafter many were moved from continent to continent by their Superiors FOR REASONS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN MADE ENTIRELY CLEAR, nor have they been explained. Those of us who still care enough about the future of our church are free to draw our own conclusions. In my (humble) opinion, there was and is a conspiracy of complicity, cover-up, and silence relating to the crimes and sins of priest abusers which is being perputated by members of the Hierarchy to this day!!

• Bernadett | Apr 02, 2011, 04:14 PM EDT

  Well all i can say is i wish them luck, because there are people here in ireland that have medical proof of abuse and they are still fighting for justice after 20 YEARS.The Dublin Archdiocese is a law onto itself and it will part with nothing least of all cash. If they are looking for compensation they will have a very long drawn out fight and the amounts paid out here in Dublin are very very small amounts when compared to the U.S.

• KittyMurphy | Apr 02, 2011, 04:10 PM EDT

  These men have said they don't want money. It's not about money. It's about making sure no on else is hurt and no more crimes are covered up.

• srdools | Apr 02, 2011, 04:06 PM EDT

  Once the church runs out of money this will all go away.

• mamaginnty | Apr 02, 2011, 01:52 PM EDT

  MCBREEN, get a life and count your blessing that you were not " a victim " This statute of limitations should not be used when it comes to children, to young to know there was help out there. I am so glad children did not have to run to you for help, you would probably have turned your back and called them liars, just like the bishops did. I thank God that there are people like Anderson, and it would not bother me one little bit if he makes billions.

• Trealach | Apr 02, 2011, 01:35 PM EDT

  It's interesting how Greg Horne was allegedly abused when he was 7 years old, would have been aware of these cases for the last 15 years, and yet waits until the "Statute of Limitations", which expired for him 12 years ago at the age of 26, decides NOW to make a claim. Give me a break!! It's about time the Church NOW took these fraudsters head on, and counter sue them for everything they have - after all 'Justice', which is the balancing of the scales, is a double-edged sword. Certainly and unquestionably, there was gross abuse my a very small minority within the clergy, and those who were genuinely abused deserved ever cent or compensation - but this case smacks of fraud. Produce the evidence or accept the consequences.

• Gearoid4 | Apr 02, 2011, 12:30 PM EDT

  Let justice be done regarding the victims of this particular priest. But once again Jeffrey Anderson pops up again to contribute his nickel's worth regarding an 'international conspiracy'. Anderson is a celebrity lawyer notorious for ambulance-chasing, class action lawsuits against the Church from which he has enriched himself. The IC as usual does not miss a trick in bring us the latest piece of negativity against the Church.

• Intercessor | Apr 02, 2011, 10:59 AM EDT

  It's a "No-Brainer," that there was a TransAtlantic Conspiracy between the Archdiocese of Dublin and several Archdiocese in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, for the purpose of "Dumping" Irish Pederast Priests in the USA and above countries, thus providing Pedophile Priests to parishes in need of priests and fulfilling the needs of bishops on both sides of the Atlantic. I applaud Jeff Anderson's tenacious efforts to expose this Grand, International Conspiracy. The spiritual, physical and emotional aftermath of this SCANDAL is staggering. Finally, we have a US attorney, who is ready and willing to unravel and expose the complexity of this problem. Bravo, Jeff!

• mollymguire | Apr 02, 2011, 10:12 AM EDT

  the church in Ireland is learning how to cover its arse, as coached by the Vatican, but I wish these people well. I hope they succeed in exposing the world wide cover up that continues to be perpetuated by the catholic church. how dare they even consider making that last pope a saint??? God bless the survivors.

• mcbreen | Apr 02, 2011, 10:08 AM EDT

  We must stop paying these people. Or what is the next step? Do we sue Jewish people for being greedy? - Or blacks for being lazy? These lawyers freely use old and disproven canards about the Catholic Church to bolster their cases since they cannot prove their allegations.