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Up to 350 Irish priests were likely accused child abusers

New report shows it was far more than just a small element

JAMES O'SHEA,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Thursday, December 1, 2011, 7:03 AM

Updated Thursday, December 1, 2011, 10:32 AM

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Interior of an Irish Catholic school - new figures on sexual abuse within the Church in Ireland raise questions

One of the arguments made frequently in Ireland is that it is only a tiny minority of priests who were abusers. Yet the latest investigation, released yesterday, into six dioceses seems to indicate the opposite.

The report was compiled by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church.
The figures, shown below, were on the RTE television website soon after the investigation made its findings public seem to indicate otherwise.

All in all a total of 85 priests across six dioceses were accused of child sexual abuse. If you extrapolate that number across the 20 other dioceses you end up with a number close to 350 if you include the fact that Dublin and three other archdioceses are still to be counted and will have far more accused as a result of larger numbers of priests.

That is 350 priests that we know were accused. We will never know if there were more who got away because of the tenor of the times. But it certainly makes the issue far more than about a small minority.

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Of course the overwhelming majority of the cases were never pursued because of the unholy alliance between the church and the government and the police to cover it all up for decades
If you think things are getting any better think again perhaps.

Last month Father Patrick McGarvey (43) was elevated to the position of parish priest of Fanad, County Donegal, by Bishop Philip Boyce of the Raphoe diocese, the man whose diocese was one of the worst offenders when it came to clerical abuse.

According to the Belfast Telegraph, in August 2004 McGarvey was caught by undercover police at Foyleside shopping centre in Derry, watching men in the public restrooms. The police caught the priest while carrying out an investigation after members of the public had complained.

Is that the kind of man you want in charge of a parish? Would you let your kid near such a priest?

Will the church ever learn?

Here’s a breakdown of the figures:

Raphoe (Donegal)

.52 allegations reported to gardaí against 14 priests
. Eight out of 14 priests out of ministry, six retired
. Four convicted of an offence against a child
. Significant errors of judgement made by successive bishops
. Too much emphasis on accused priests, not victims
. More attention should have been given to preventative actions

Tuam

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16 Comments

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ShilohWith | Dec 12, 2011, 08:47 AM EST

RE; colkelley You are absolutely right If you turn to politics, you have my vote

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Portia777 | Dec 02, 2011, 03:13 PM EST

hybernia 100% correct. We were scammed from birth. There is no God on a fluffy cloud telly Benny of the red shoes what to teach us.He is either hearing voices and needs to be locked away or he is lying.

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Portia777 | Dec 02, 2011, 03:10 PM EST

warlocks If you reserch, you will find the Roman Catholic Church has nothing to do with Jesus.

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IrelandNorth | Dec 02, 2011, 07:32 AM EST

Clerical child sexual abuse is a legacy of orthodox Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church's fixation with celibacy to protect their real estate portfolio. When they reconcile themselves with non shame-based sexuality and pursue genuine metaphysical interests sex abuse will stop.

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warlocks | Dec 02, 2011, 01:05 AM EST

as Roman Catholics. what can we do to solve this problem of Pedophile Child Abusers in the priesthood, I say we need to get to the bottom of these Criminals and weed them out no matter who they are or what political clout they have with Vatican or Local Goverments. we the People must Demand Justice Time to Rid the church of these wolves in sheeps clothing .This is not the church Jesus & his Brothers created .The church today is a Den of Vipers and Child Molesters.the Roman Catholic Church has lost its way and its high time we the people bring it back by Reforming it from top to Bottom !!

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CitizenWhy | Dec 01, 2011, 08:52 PM EST

The tiny or non-tiny number of cruelly abusive priests, though disgusting, is irrelevant to the systemic corruption of the church. The horrible story is the cover-up of these crimes by every bishop, most of them haughtily without any obvious compunction.

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helmet365 | Dec 01, 2011, 04:55 PM EST

When you consider Priests and other religious crimes against children you cannot compare with the general community, keep in mind Priests and others do up to seven years training, take vows of chastity and promise to teach the highest morals. Multiply each crime by seven ?

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lokionline | Dec 01, 2011, 03:47 PM EST

@cowabunga, I don't see the words "huge number" in the article above. I see a reportage of numbers from a reputable study/report which due to the circumstances and consequences has likely been carefully compiled. I see a reasonable extrapolation based on those numbers which results in a number that is in all likelihood conservative. That number it is not small nor is it confined to a few 'bad apples'. It also does not serve the victims of these crimes or the pursuit of justice, to keep bringing up the fact that child abuse is rampant in other public institutions. That is deplorable and needs to be addressed as it seems to be being addressed in the Penn State scandal. You like many others seem to focus on the actual acts of abuse when the greater crime has been the systemic cover up and shuffling of abusers that has occurred in the RCC. While it is true that abuse can be associated with the need for abortions, to bring up the abortion reference here is nothing but a red herring and reveals your bias. Such arguments are not convincing -- you should save yourself the time you take to make such weak arguments. They don't hold up under scrutiny.

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Collette2 | Dec 01, 2011, 02:16 PM EST

proudirishlass. colkelly and jmc, have hit the nail on the head. I'm quite sure many a mother with intuition would feel her son would be forever safe in the priesthood or religious life generally for that reason. It would also account for more than one Anglican jumping ship.

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cowabunga | Dec 01, 2011, 02:15 PM EST

TO say that a huge number of Irish Priests are child molesters, is libelous and defammatory. Why dont we let people say the IRish, as a whole, are alcoholics-which some jokers still tend to believe! Of course we find out the guilty one's, but to throw the balnket over the entire body of priests, is flat out prejudice and not worth used toilet paper. Unbelievable! In America there have been 'hundreds' of accusations against priests-and only 2% or less have even ended up in convictions. There are far more abuse cases in the public schools system here than anywhere else. And the abortion industry has long covered up, without any mdedia interest, thousands of rap, date rape, incest, and even pimp abusers of young girls-so why isnt anyone flaming mad about that?!

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hybernia | Dec 01, 2011, 01:59 PM EST

Okay suckers, I mean seekers. It is time to admit you have all been had! The church rakes in the dough screaming about how extra-marital sex is bad and homosexuality is flat out wrong, then gets caught in gay sex clubs and molesting children. Now, either the God you worship is really sick to have such priests working for him, or that God does not exist and you have all been played for total fools by the world's oldest ongoing fraud.

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proudirishlass | Dec 01, 2011, 11:28 AM EST

Beautifully expressed opinion by colkelly. This has been my opinion for years but unfortunately my catholic colleagues, friends and family were horrified that i held such an opinion. It was blaspheme! Their excuse for these pedophiles is that they are "only human" and we all "sin". Of course they only apply these excuses for the ordained! A lot of irish people are brainwashed and protective of the church even when there is a mountain of evidence against them. The church had a powerful control over the people and to an extent still does. My mother told me that when she was young the priest held the power to shame poor families by announcing to everyone the names of who paid their dues and how much each one paid. She is in her late eighties now and would rather go hungry that miss paying the priest who shamelessly comes in regularly to pick up the money, but when she was sick in hospital he did not visit.

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jmccarten | Dec 01, 2011, 10:57 AM EST

colkelley You are absolutely 100% correct. I am a retied U.S. Federal Agent and Professor of Criminal Justice. Pedofiles routinely enter professions that will give them access to children. The problem as I see it is that the idealogy of the Catholic church bureaucracy is that it is male dominated, hierarchial (with clergy in charge), and authoritarian. Not a set of characteristics that lend it to self police its clerical ranks. Let priests get married to attract better people to the profession and you won't have these problems.

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joeustace | Dec 01, 2011, 10:53 AM EST

If "only a tiny minority" is an excuse, please advise as to the allowable number.

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Murph46 | Dec 01, 2011, 10:07 AM EST

How about the mens room peeping tom priest who was just promoted,should we also make him chief investigator of abuse!

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