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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Bishop Magee did Vatican bidding by covering up Cloyne pedophile priests - VIDEO

Posted on Friday, July 15, 2011 at 08:03 AM

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Former Bishop John Magee

At the heart of the Bishop of Cloyne affair is a dark reality that is truly shocking.

Bishop John Magee was carrying out Vatican orders when he delegated the responsibility for the pedophile priests in his diocese to an underling and allowed him to overlook the worst abusers.

One wonders what pressing tasks the Bishop had that were so urgent that he could turnover such a critical and vital task to an underling.

Now we know why -so the Vatican fingerprints would not be on it.

The Vatican has long refused to sign off on the strict code of conduct put together by the Irish church after the sordid revelations about the past emerged. The key one was to report all suspected pedophiles to police.

As a Vatican man, through and through, Magee was following Vatican orders.

The Cloyne cover-up began into events that happened after the worst of the previous excesses were in the public domain and the Irish church had issued new firm guidelines which included giving any information to police.
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READ MORE:
Papal nuncio 'very distressed' over Ireland's Cloynes report

Bishop of Cloyne apologizes from American hideaway

Irish Priests face five years in jail if they fail to report child abuse
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Magee is a Vatican creation, however, secretary to three popes and a man on his way to the top of the irish church until some internal scandal derailed him and sent him to Cloyne instead. He was still taking their orders however.

We can guess what his own scandal was after he attempted to kiss a 17-year old seminary student and said he dreamed about him, a fact included in the Murphy report

But he clearly never forgot his Vatican roots. It is a place where the current Pope has much to answer for on this issue, where Cardinal Law of Boston, a notorious enabler of pedophiles was promoted, where Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, the most courageous cleric standing in the face of this pedophile scandal, has been ignored and belittled.

The Irish government called in the Papal Nuncio in Ireland yesterday and demanded a Vatican response saying it was 'absolutely unacceptable' that the Vatican had intervened in Ireland and discouraged priests from reporting crimes against innocent children.

Foreign Minister Gilmore said what happened in Ireland was 'a totally inappropriate, unjustified, unacceptable intervention'.

'This is modern Ireland and this was a recent occasion of abuse of children and this was a recent intervention by Vatican authorities,' he said.

Once Irish governments would have quaked at the very presence of the Papal Nuncio, but no more.

Now the chairman of the Fine Gael party Charlie Flanagan, son of the most devout Catholic legislator in Irish history, Oliver Flanagan, called for the Papal Nuncio to be expelled

The nuncio's response was a polite buzz off, regretting the scandal but promising little.

Like the House of Bourbon the Vatican has learned nothing and remembered nothing.

Magee, now happily vacationing somewhere in America knows he has served his true lord and masters and to hell with the little children.

It is beyond cynicism and belief.

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CER1940 | Jul 15, 2011, 09:06 PM EDT

Former Bishop John Magee is no more than a puppet and a godless and cowardly one at that. America covers a lot of ground. If he surfaces there he will be hounded.

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barneyjo | Jul 15, 2011, 08:44 PM EDT

@TomSwinford - thank you for your kind words!! As a (struggling) practicing catholic, it gives me no pleasure to say these things about a faith and church that has sustained me through some very difficult times in my life. That is the reason I cannot dismiss out of hand the validity of the ministries of many Religious I have encountered, nor am I disposed to tar all with the one brush. That said, I have to be honest and say that I have travelled along the same road as yourself, though not quite as far (just yett). Equally, like yourself, I am sustained by my own faith in a loving and caring God that transcends the vagueries of the human condition that has done so much damage to his message in this world. I am also disposed to believe that it is a Divine hand that is shining a light on this darkness of the human soul for all to see. Blessed Pio spoke of this when he related dreams in which he encountered Jesus. In these encounters Jesus raged against the abusive power and authority of the church on earth; "Butchers; see what they have done. Were it not for the Angels I would have destroyed them all!!" Kind of makes you wonder why Pio was ever beatified.

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barneyjo | Jul 15, 2011, 08:13 PM EDT

Barneyjo, I was touched by your comment. Because of this unending scandal we are all betwixt and between. I was born and raised a Catholic in Ireland. When I was a boy I loved the Latin Mass. I learned to say much of it in Latin. I loved the ritual and pomp, the processional marches. But we have been betrayed in the worst way. The scriptures do not come from God but from profoundly ignorant and bigoted old men who wrote of the world around them in their own time, a time in which there was no place for women, save for Mary. There is some wisdom in their prose but much is utter nonsense and completely irrevelent. I am no longer a practicing Catholic - but I have not lost my faith, I have lost my religion. My faith is a personal, private matter betwewen me and God and no one else, period. The world became a brutal and violent place when we allowed intermediaries to come between ourselves and our God.

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Nicomax | Jul 15, 2011, 04:37 PM EDT

New York Times editorial today on this topic stated the most pertinent point relating to this entire matter. "Throughout the long scandal of sexual abuse by rogue priests, the Vatican has blatantly resisted the idea that civil law trumps church rules in confronting criminal acts." Definitive, and logical when you ask would a school principal, scout leader, athletic director, etc. be allowed to 'not confront criminal acts'.

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Nicomax | Jul 15, 2011, 04:19 PM EDT

CitizenWhy,I am aware of the Church history that you refer to. During the period from the 12th century when clerics were formally banned from maintaining wives and/or concubines to the 16th century when celebacy was formally adopted within the Church, all kinds of games and evasions played out - because celebacy was such an unnatural restriction on normal, healthy human behavior. You make a fair point and one worth noting. The3 Archbishop of Dublin that you refer to must surely be the power-crazed tyrant and autocrat John Charles McQuaid.

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Tropiholic | Jul 15, 2011, 04:10 PM EDT

Since they are such big believers in hell and warning all about sins, they should know where they'll end up. I hope you like the heat :)

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Springfield9 | Jul 15, 2011, 02:56 PM EDT

Jail every one of the rats ...... including the facilitators - the Bishop. It didn't hurt St. Paul to spend some time locked up. It might do some of the abusers a bit of good. What would happen is the Bishop would be given Vatican citizenship and a passport.

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nicgearailt | Jul 15, 2011, 02:39 PM EDT

so Magee has his own issues..surprise surprise..Will this vile episode in our history ever end ? It safe to say that we have good priests ,but are there enough of them left to sustain the church there.What was once such noble work has been disgraced by these monsters..those who destroy the lives of children should have no peace..anywhere...the fact that this Magee fellow can take himself off to America ,when this report is released in Ireland...what a coward...hope he has not been assigned to a parish in USA...keep an eye out everyone..they need to have posters circulated The Govt in Ireland has it's work cut out ,dealing with the issues of the economy and unemployment..now they have the added responsibility of dealing with this..they need to be ruthless in both approaches..zero tolerance,henceforth.

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mcbreen | Jul 15, 2011, 02:20 PM EDT

Thanks for uncovering that vast conspiracy of our dark and barbarous religion. As long as the church has the image of being flush with cash, opportunistic lawyers will seek it even if they have to dig ancient bigotries out of the grave.

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barneyjo | Jul 15, 2011, 02:02 PM EDT

@joan1954 - there is no doubt that there are many priests and religious within the catholic and other christian churches who have followed their very genuine and powerful ministries. I am a practicing catholic, and I know many such people. In saying that, I have also had to reconcile myself to the fact that for all the good that is done by so many within the church, the priests and religious are bound by obedience to the greater church body which has been shown in many respects to be less than that which it held itself to be in the eyes of the world. That senior members of the hierarchy would lie to protect the reputation and respectability of the church at the expense of broken lives, broken bodies, and broken souls is both unforgiveable and inexcusable in the eyes of humanity and in the eyes of God. Those good men and women within the church are invariably tainted by association, because even if they were not active participants in abuse or other acts of terror, they were content to be part of the status quo either by turning away, or by remaining within the church and ignoring the "greater good"

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joan1954 | Jul 15, 2011, 01:05 PM EDT

There are many good priests who have maintained their vows and to lump them with the rotten apples whether they be clergy or hierarchy is not fair.

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themurphia | Jul 15, 2011, 12:55 PM EDT

Whoa...far too much information!

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CitizenWhy | Jul 15, 2011, 12:45 PM EDT

To TomSwinford - Pedophilia was not always so universally condoned by bishops, at least not when wise Catholic bishops married themselves and encouraged the clergy to marry to avoid drunkenness, promiscuity and yes, pedophilia. During the reign of Henry VII Cardinal Wolseley was faithfully married, as were 27 of the 29 bishops of England. The two bishops who refused to cooperate with Henry were not married, and were faithful to their celibacy. Most of the 27 others did not agree with Henry's reforms but went along so that their marriages would not be interfered with. In many rural parishes of Europe, including Ireland, many, if not most, of the priests married, normally with the tacit consent of their bishops. One recent fanatically conservative Archbishop of Dublin was not a pedophile because he had the equivalent of a gay marriage with his houseboy (of age). Of course he railed in the pulpit against homosexuality and probably did not consider himself one since he was dominant. The belief that the dominant partner is not gay is still held among many.

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CitizenWhy | Jul 15, 2011, 12:33 PM EDT

In orderings its clerical underlings to violate Irish law, the Vatican committed a serious offense against Irish sovereignty. Ireland should break off diplomatic relations with the Vatican.

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unconvinced | Jul 15, 2011, 10:11 AM EDT

The church of Rome is soooooooo rotten it is not fit to be called a church - should be called a den of inquity - All the mass houses should have a health warning out side the door. But sadly and alas parents will bring their children into danger week after week . They all know the cruelity of this church , and all that happened in the convents and homes. I will never understand why people darkened the doors. WHat a religion of fear, they feel they must take the sacriments of the church. Don't be fooled any longer and continue in that system you will end up in hell.

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