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Voice of the Faithful targets new Irish Catholic bishop over child sex abuse

Campaign set to raise concern in Irish hierarchy

By
PATRICK ROBERTS,
Irish Central.com

Published Friday, January 1, 2010, 8:34 AM
Updated Friday, January 1, 2010, 10:37 AM

 

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Bishop Hegarty: Voice of the Faithful targets Irish bishop
Bishop Hegarty: Voice of the Faithful targets Irish bishop

A new Irish bishop has been targeted by Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic lobbying group with branches in Ireland and the U.S.

Bishop of Derry Seamus Hegarty who was Bishop of Raphoe in Donegal from 1982 - 1994. is being asked to explain how he ignored the activities of child rapist Father Eugene Greene who served as a priest in Raphoe during that period.

The statement from VOTF reads: "On December 9th, 2009, in response to the publication of the Murphy report on clerical child sex abuse in Dublin archdiocese, the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference announced: We are shamed by the extent to which child sexual abuse was covered up in the Archdiocese of Dublin and recognise that this indicates a culture that was widespread in the Church."

"During the period 1982-1994 Bishop Seamus Hegarty was bishop of Raphoe.  The prolific child rapist Eugene Greene served as a priest in Raphoe in that period.  Gardai did not become aware of his crimes against twenty-six young men until 1997.  However, there is compelling evidence, revealed in 2008 in the book 'Breaking the Silence' that his criminal activities were known to Raphoe clergy at least as early as 1976.

"When Bishop Hegarty approved the Irish bishops' statement of December 9th,
was he admitting that the 'widespread' cover up of clerical child sex abuse extended to the diocese of Raphoe during his term of office there? Or does he deny having had any knowledge during that period of Greene's abusive proclivities and activities?

"Bishop Moriarty of Kildare and Leighlin has tendered his resignation on the grounds that he should have challenged the culture of cover-up that prevailed in the Dublin archdiocese when he was an auxiliary bishop there.  All bishops who failed that challenge should now resign also.  Is Bishop Hegarty one such, or was he inexplicably unaware of the cover up culture that prevailed among bishops in Ireland during the period 1975-1997?" the statement adds.

The new campaign will worry many church figures who were hoping that the resignation of four bishops from the Dublin archdiocese would end the issue of Bishops who were complicit with child sex abusers. That however, looks like it will not be the case.

Bishop Hegarty is well known in the U.S. for his work as head of the Irish Bishops task force on immigration. In that capacity he recently visited the U.S. to meet with immigrant groups and Irish American politicians.

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Posted by justhimself on Dec 07, 2010, 12:38 PM EST
All bishops of good conscience, who had any knowledge of the child abuse by priests, and for whatever reason failed to act, should just CONFESS THEIR SINS TO THE FAITHFUL and resighn. If not they are LIVING in SIN.
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Posted by caseuoffspring on Sep 10, 2010, 05:58 PM EDT
Until ALL those involved in anyway come forward and repent this fungus on the Catholic Church will NEVER go away. The Catholic Church is not ABOVE the law of the land. It is time for confession on the Church's part. Isn't that what a Priest would tell the faithful. Then we can all move on.
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Posted by Liamkeyes on Aug 18, 2010, 07:50 PM EDT
Back in the 40's and 50's if any boy misbehaved they were "threatened" to be sent to Daingean or Artane so it follows that the laity were aware of the discipline in these places, maybe not aware of the sexual abuses but definitely the physical abuses but nobody came forward, if they did they were ignored or silenced by the authorities, it was the prevailing culture at the time.
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Posted by Bushothehill on Jun 20, 2010, 08:27 PM EDT
Somewhere back in the Fourth Century A.D., One, John, in the area of Constantinaople, was a vibrant Christian preacher and converter of pagans to Christianity. However,the dissolute and hedonistic activities of some of the Church's hierachy, caused him such great pain and concern, it caused him to utter the following proclamation: THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH THE SKULLS OF BISHOPS. For his good works on earth, he was subsequently canonized and is known as St. John Chrystomos.
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Posted by LilPaddy on Mar 10, 2010, 07:18 PM EST
I HAVE JUST READ THE BELOW "COMMENTS" AND I WISH THAT THE PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR SOME OF THE HATE FILLED STATEMENTS WITHIN THEM, HAD WALKED A MILE IN MY SHOES (Daingean 58 TO 60); AND IF I CAN NOW FORGIVE THOSE WHO SAW ALL BUT SAID NOTHING.....(but, that does not include the abuser's) THE REST OF YOU CAN TOO!! OR (AS IT SEEMS) ARE YOU JUST HELL BENT ON DESTROYING WHATS LEFT OF THE CHURCH IN IRELAND!!! Note: I am not, nor have I been a church goer... shane2010. call me. # is above your comment!
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Posted by Intercessor on Feb 24, 2010, 08:44 PM EST
Cardinal Ratzinger didn't "Challenge the Culture of Cover-ups" when he was the Prefect for the Congregation for Doctrines and Faith. With that kind of example, why should any other bishop or archbishop be forced to "Challenge the Culture of Cover-ups" at a Diocesan level? Well, if they did, it would be a good example for Pope Benedict to follow suite.
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Posted by Intercessor on Feb 24, 2010, 08:32 PM EST
I think that VOTF is one of the most intelligent, unrecognized organizations in the Catholic Church. VOTF wants more "Lay Participation," which could only IMPROVE the Church by integrating it with those with fresh ideas, morals and Spirit-filled inspiration. Of course, those who are "so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good," will protest and encourage them to leave the running of the Church to Neanderthal Clerics and "Orthodox" Catholics!" Hopefully, VOTF will bring needed change to the Church!
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Posted by bern1952 on Feb 22, 2010, 11:49 AM EST
The Catholic Church has had more than its share of problems and scandals recently, but it is not the first time this has happened. As in any institute of people, imperfection and crimes raise their ugly heads from time to time. The Catholic Church will emerge a much smaller and stronger institution. This is a good thing. Most of the people that post on here seem to believe that the Church is supposed to ebb and change with the tide, but the ten commandments are still just that"commandments" and not suggestions. There will be changes but not liberal changes and the remaining Catholic Church goers will be much more like Catholics of the 1950, not the ones of the 1990 and 2000's.Hopefully we can all learn from past mistakes.
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Posted by Spiritranger on Feb 17, 2010, 11:57 AM EST
The Catholic Church in the USA has never allowed the secular authorities to prosecute these pedophiles to the fullest extent of the law. Protestant, Mormon and Jewish clergy could never get away with these acts the way some priests have. It helps that the FBI is predominantly Catholic. Catholic theology puts Catholic clergy above secular law. This is the real problem that has led to a culture of abuse and perversion in the church. And my Bible still tells me that a Bishop is the husband of one wife (I Timothy 3:2) -- a married clergy would be more "normal" and more Biblically spiritual than the current celibate priest system.
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Posted by jacersisityourself on Jan 10, 2010, 12:53 PM EST
Slipit is right on the button. kickstar is not, typically diverting attention from Truth. Antinomianism includes reference to arsses, possibly including his own. Just possibly, like ya know...
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Posted by SlipitTwomey on Jan 08, 2010, 11:52 AM EST
While we rejoice that bishops resign when credible accounts of allowing pedophiles to flourish during their tenure is reavealed, I think it is time for Catholics and the Irish people--as well as Americans--to demand criminal prosecution for these bishops. I believe that these bishops have committed crimes. I believe that they--and here I mean the church and all who would abuse children or turn their heads when abuse is taking place--will not take any of this seriously until the threat of JAIL is real to those (of us) who stand on the sidelines and allow abuse to take place. I am sending letters to my Congress People to ask for investigations of Catholic clergy with an eye toward prosecution. Basically, I think the Catholic hierarchy in the USA has been given a free pass civilly. So too for the Irish hierarchy. I think we must start looking at the knowledge we have gained from such reports as the Murphy Report as a call for us as citizens to demand prosecution of these criminal acts.
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Posted by kickstar on Jan 03, 2010, 09:33 PM EST
'jacersisityourself' By your own logic and Blarney only the most intelligent among us can ever go to Heaven* . All you have done is cast out a lot of mumbo jumbo words that are at best nonsensical and at worst utter pure utter rubbish as would make a Puritan run for his reformation banner. But it is a wonderful example of what the Church of Rome has done through the ages it has taken poor people of limited education and bamboozeled them with rubbish. Antinomianism my ass, The only Heretics in the whole debacle are those who deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, by the very actions of the Council of Trent the 'Passover' was supplanted by the Pagan feast of Easter and the Sabbath was moved from Gods commanded Seventh day to the First so as they could worship and honor the Sun God on Sun-day. Does this sound like a Church that Jesus would have a hand in??.
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Posted by kickstar on Jan 03, 2010, 09:10 PM EST
As Abraham Lincoln used to say "The wheels are off the wagon" and there is no way to cobble together a Church out of a rotten stinking to the heavens cesspit of an Edifice with wondering what bishop knew what and when he knew it, You have to clean the entire piggery out if not for this reason then what would it take?, You cannot tell me with the extent of the abuse that was going on that every bishop in Ireland didn't know about it and the extent of it, And for that reason alone they all must now go, The wheels are truly off the wagon and in my opinion they are staying off. How could anyone with a smattering of intelligence watch a priest say mass and have any confidence in him or the church again.....Never Never Again..
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Posted by McNamara31 on Jan 03, 2010, 03:00 PM EST
Carroll09: A last remark about VOTF.... "The only condition for the triumph of evil is for good men (or women) to do nothing!" At least the members of VOTF tried.
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Posted by McNamara31 on Jan 03, 2010, 12:58 PM EST
Carroll09 From day one (2003 and on) most Bishops disapproved from VOTF meeting on church grounds. They took to the airwaves to smear, and cast doubt on the the efforts of it's members to stand for the victims. In 2003 the Catholic Church was forced,dragging and kicking to release the documents that would have sent these criminals to jail. None of documentation was given freely, in a moral and Christian way, with the children in mind. Frank Keating, former govenor of Oklahoma, and the head of the National Review Board, an independent oversight panel of Catholic laity charged with monitoring the Church reforms at that time, compared certain bishops' handling of the abuse scandal to the way the Mafia handles its legal problems. To quote him :"To act like La Cosa Nostra," he told the Los Angeles Times. To "hide and suppress, I think, is very unhealthy." Just as VOTF may have individuals that don't completely fill the bill for your perception of what it is to be Catholic, So have the many Bishops, Cardinals and Pope's who fully engaged in an operation of secrecy, while little children lives were destroyed, forever, will never fill my perception of what it is to be a "true" follower of Christ.
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Posted by barneyjo on Jan 03, 2010, 12:05 PM EST
Hidden agendas and everything else aside, the fact remains that Bishop Hegarty was responsible for the Raphoe Diocese at a time when Eugene Greene was active. As Bishop of Derry Diocese, he has also had to defend his decision to allow a priest against whom allegations of sexual abuse were made to remain in ministry. A five figure sum was paid out to the claimant in settlement of the claim, with no admission of liability. Then add to that the issue of the appropriation of Parish funds by the Bishops office in order to meet the obligations of the Derry Diocese to the Central fund for meeting the costs of settlement of claims of abuse against the church. This was investigated in a television documentary, during which the Bishop admitted that he had used these funds but without having confirmed that they would be used in this way to any of the parishes in the Diocese which contributed the funds in the first place. Questions to answer....I would have thought so
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Posted by Carroll09 on Jan 03, 2010, 09:52 AM EST
McNamara31- I don't disagree with VOTF's aims of supporting victims of abuse and priests of integrity.However,I am not comfortable with what I am hearing about the group "on the ground"-saying things on the website is fine;what happens in practice is another matter.It is no secret that more and more bishops and priests are forbidding VOTF to meet in their dioceses-they're certainly not doing this because of VOTF's concern for victims of abuse;we all want justice for them.The leader of VOTF,for example,criticised the bishops for their role in opposing gay marriage.VOTF has invited obvious "voices of dissent",such as Rev.Richard McBrien of Notre Dame,to speak-McBrien denies that Christ actually founded a Church & the concept of Apostolic succession -hardly the kind of people an organisation faithful to the teachings of the Church would have to speak (to rapturous applause from audience members).VOTF is certainly NOT my voice.
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Posted by jacersisityourself on Jan 03, 2010, 09:27 AM EST
(...Cont’d) Child-abuse by some parents of their children in America was/is said to based on this heretical believe (mostly occurring in isolated communities in the vastness of America; I know it happened, from women who were horrendously abused as children by fathers allowing neighbours to ‘have fun’ with daughters, for a price). It is not beyond possibility that there are some clerics in the Catholic Church who might hold to Antinomianism despite it being condemned. Is there a way this can be investigated by people with the right background and qualifications? If it exists in the Church today, it must be exposed and got rid of.
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Posted by jacersisityourself on Jan 03, 2010, 09:26 AM EST
Antinomianism is an extreme type of the heretical doctrine of justification by faith alone existing as taught by the Reformers. It is condemned by the Catholic Church through The Ecumenical Council of Trent 16C AD (these words are extraordinarily notable): "In opposition also to the cunning wits of certain men who, by good works and fair speeches, deceive the hearts of the innocent, it is to be maintained that the received grace of justification is lost not only by the infidelity, in which even faith itself if lost, but also by any other mortal sin soever, though faith be not lost; thereby defending the doctrine of the Divine law, which excludes from the King of God not only the unbelieving, but also the faithful who are fornicators, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortionists, and all others who commit deadly sins; from which, with the help of Divine grace, they are able to refrain and on account of which they are separate from the grace of Christ". (More...)
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Posted by McNamara31 on Jan 02, 2010, 09:15 PM EST
Carroll09: Voice of the Faithfull originated, and is, a totally "Catholic" group and should be respected as so. In 2003, when the same activity of moving the abusing priests from parish to parish took place all over the U.S.,it was the members of VOTF who stood firm in support of the victims and in support of priests of integrity. The majority of the first members of VOTF were the church attending, pillars of faith, who couldn't believe what was happening to their church. Your inference about their "motives" is an unfair blow.
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Posted by Carroll09 on Jan 02, 2010, 06:19 PM EST
So TomGlynn, I suppose you think it's because of the Church's misogynistic towards women that even in the Middle Ages Christian women ran religious institutions, owned land, ruled kingdoms, led armies and ran businesses?The opportunities given to women in Christian countries was unthinkable in many other cultures & still is today. Queen Isabella of Spain, Eleanor of Aquitaine, St Hildegard of Bingen, St Catherine of Siena (Doctor of the Church), St Teresa of Avila (Doctor of the Church) did not achieve the reknown they did (and still retain to this day) because the Church treated them as 2nd class citizens.Indeed, the most revered human being in the Church is a woman - the Blessed Virgin Mary.If you want the truth about what the Church ACTUALLY teaches about women,try reading the Catechism-freely available on the Vatican website.
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Posted by TomGlynn on Jan 02, 2010, 04:33 PM EST
It's good to see some house cleaning happening. But, admit it or not, as long as there is a deep seated misogyny in Roman Catholic Doctrine this will always be a problem. Attitudes towards women must first improve if there is to be true change in the Roman Catholic Church.
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Posted by Carroll09 on Jan 02, 2010, 08:27 AM EST
Yes, kickstar- sure, to hell with the truth...Let's just have some heads on plates...Let's show the world that we Irish men & women want to get rid of the old system of cover-ups & secrecy and that we're happy to replace it with a society which has injustice and untruth as it's moral foundation.You don't seem to think that Bishop Hegarty is entitled to a fair hearing-so I guess you would have no problem with a high court judge,for example, picking you up from the street & throwing you into prison for 30 years because you MIGHT have committed a terrible crime? I doubt it - you would be shouting, and others would too, for a fair hearing.Why should anyone else be entitled to anything less?
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Posted by kickstar on Jan 01, 2010, 10:36 PM EST
Kick the hoore out
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Posted by Carroll09 on Jan 01, 2010, 06:15 PM EST
Maybe Bishop Hegarty has questions to answer - however, as far as I can see, this is just more hot air from Voice of the Faithful (which I would most certainly not describe as a "Catholic" group). Bishop Hegarty had already said several weeks ago that he would welcome an inquiry into clerical sex abuse allegations in the Diocese of Raphoe. Why is it only NOW that VOTFI are laying charges against Bishop Hegarty - I very much wonder about their motives at the present time.
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Posted by TonydeNewYork on Jan 01, 2010, 12:18 PM EST
Let's wait and see what the bishop will answer.
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Posted by barneyjo on Jan 01, 2010, 12:12 PM EST
It would seem that Bishop Hegarty does have questions to answer about his tenure as Bishop in both Raphoe and Derry Diocese. That said, it would be unfair to treat Bishop Hegarty in isolation from his brother Bishops where no audits have taken place so far. The evidence available about Eugene Greene is of course compelling in its own right.
 


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