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comment on article 11 Comments
Posted on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 10:47 PM


What secrets does disgraced Bishop Magee take to the grave?


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The disgraced Bishop of Cloyne, John Magee, will bring at least two dark secrets to his grave with him. He resigned last week after a tribunal found he had blatantly failed to implement church regulations on abuse of children.

The Newry-both Magee was Secretary to three Popes, Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II, the only cleric in history to achieve such an incredible honor. In the picture above, he is with John Paul II.

John Cooney, an Irish journalist covering religious affairs, wrote how Magee proudly boasted that Pope Paul VI treated him like a son, and that John Paul II treated him like a brother.

According to Cooney, he was considered the "most handsome man" in the Vatican and had incredible access to the Popes. He lived in a wonderful villa on the Vatican grounds.

It even had a private chapel, and he loved to entertain friends from Ireland and arrange meetings with the Pope for a chosen few.

He was widely expected to return to Ireland in triumph as Archbishop of Armagh, his home diocese, and be the future Primate of All Ireland.

But John Paul 11 banished him to a lonely Cork diocese in 1987, when Magee was at the height of his power. The job of Bishop of Cloyne was intended for someone else, but John Paul insisted that Magee go.

He was never liked by the priests there, who considered him a Vatican outsider who was dumped on them. The Bishop's house was a sad, drafty old building in need of repair, totally unlike his Vatican villa.

The reasons why he was exiled to Cloyne have never been explained.

Rumors ran rampant, including involvement in a cover-up of the death of John Paul I and unspecified personal behavior charges, but nothing ever came to light.

What is known is that in 1978, on the death of John Paul I after only 33 days as Pope, Magee covered up the fact that a nun found him, and a statement was issued that he was the person who discovered the body.

Why this was so has never been explained.

Nor was the fact that he was briefly brought back to Rome immediately when Pope John Paul II died for unspecified duties.

By all accounts, he went into a deep funk when posted to Cloyne, a minor diocese in Ireland far from his beloved Armagh.

His lack of oversight of the child abuse problems in his parish were seen as a sign of his total disinterest in his new duties.

Now he is gone, and the mystery of how he ever ended up in Cloyne, or why he tried to mask the truth of who found the body of John Paul I, may never be known.

In "Angels and Demons," Dan Brown's prequel to "The Da Vinci Code," an ambitious Irish priest close to the Pope almost becomes Pope himself by plotting and eliminating enemies during a papal conclave. The book's Rev. Patrick McKenna may well have been loosely based on Magee.

Whatever lofty ambitions Magee had, they have long since ended, and he resigned in disgrace.

It was surely not the script he had written for himself.



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11 Comments

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Kilbarry1 | Aug 09, 2010, 05:24 AM EDT
The following is from my website www.irishsalem.com and specifically from my article on Bishop Magee: http://www.irishsalem.com/individuals/accused/bishop-john-magee/index.php "Prior to December 2008 the Gardai had submitted several files to the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to allegations against two priests of the Cloyne Diocese. In every case the Director stated that no criminal prosecution should be brought. In December 2008 Garda Superintendent Pat Carey confirmed that there were NO current investigations relating to alleged child abuse by priests in the Cloyne diocese." The above facts are not exactly secrets. They were briefly noted by the media (especially the Irish Examiner) and then ignored. I believe that most Irish people - even in County Cork - are unaware of them. Yet they are certainly relevant to this media-manufactured "scandal".
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Watereskhill | Mar 30, 2010, 09:14 PM EDT
What if he also knows 'Victoria's Secret' and takes that with him to the grave. Then alas we are all doomed to a draughty auld house in the middle of nowhere.
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KathyCallahan | Mar 30, 2010, 01:23 AM EDT
Archbishop Timothy Dolan implored the congregation at St Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday to 'pray for the pope, because he is being subjected to and suffering some of the same unjust accusations once faced by Jesus.
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knowthyself | Mar 30, 2010, 01:07 AM EDT
Hey what do you expect , what Happens in the Vatican stays in the Vatican, Its not the First time a Pope was Done Away with ! they cover their tracks very well ! Besides who would Dare Question or investagate The Vatican ? The Rome Police or the Swiss Guard ?? lol yeah Right, they are on the Payroll . And would cover it up.
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LilPaddy | Mar 29, 2010, 10:45 PM EDT
Hi jacersisityourself, THE REASON Niall O'Dwod CAN ASK SUCH QUESTIONS, IS BECAUSE HE HAS HIS OWN $ AGENDA....AND (AS BOSS) DOES NOT FEAR BEING FIRED FOR "UNVERIFIED" (as per O'Dowd) "FACTS"... HE IS AS PHONY AN "IRISH REPRESENTATIVE" AS THERE COULD BE.... HE'S A THREE DOLLAR BILL!! ANY AND ALL, ASK ME pat.doran@sbcglogal.net 951-264-7103 Paddy.
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KathyCallahan | Mar 29, 2010, 10:03 AM EDT
They gave no thought to the well being of people, community and quality of life overall when the pope dumped McGee and his baggage in Cloyne. Maybe the secrets will be forced out of him under the pains and penalties of perjury.
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Person1st | Mar 28, 2010, 11:21 PM EDT
Hi jacersisityourself This site "www.irishcentral." won't link to the other web pages. Try googling or searching the following: canadians for accountability ontario college of teachers It is there.... The guy they are talking about was actually a former judge turned high school teacher. Sad day when good people can not protest laws that are so wrong.
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kickstar | Mar 28, 2010, 07:16 PM EDT
Yes he knows that John Paul 1 was murdered http://www.crc-internet.org/oct84.htm
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jacersisityourself | Mar 28, 2010, 07:04 PM EDT
Person1st - thanks for the invite to that site. Unfortunately my internet connections can't find it. Try again?
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jacersisityourself | Mar 28, 2010, 04:28 PM EDT
Since it's obvious that Niall doesn't know the answers to these questions, one must ask why he wrote such an article asking these questions. Is he digging and looking for a scoop? I hope he gets it. Someone will.
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Person1st | Mar 28, 2010, 02:41 PM EDT
This may be very terrible. But Ontario Canada has one up on the Pope and his buddies. In Ontario Canada, teachers convicted of sexual offences including well....(it is sick)... are allowed to prance around the schools where their victims were soiught out ... This is sick. You care about kids read this site in Canada. Protest letters seem to be welcomed. http://canadians4accountability.org/blog/category/ontario-college-of-teachers/
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