The Bishop of Dromore in Northern Ireland has indicated that he would be willing to resign his position if he were found to have handled an allegation of child sexual abuse “inexcusably”.
Bishop John McAreavey was responding questions over the findings of the Commission to Inquire into the handling of allegations of child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin. The report found that the current Bishop of Limerick, Dr Donal Murray, acted "inexcusably" as an auxiliary bishop in Dublin in relation to an allegation of sexual abuse.
In an interview with BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday Sequence programme this morning, Bishop McAreavey gave his position although he stopped short of calling on Bishop Murray to resign.
During the course of the programme, Bishop McAreavey said, "All I can say is that any bishop today around whom there are serious questions in relation to the care and protection of children has serious questions to answer." He added, "I'm sure Bishop Murray is reflecting on that - I know that he has taken the view that he should remain but I think he will be thinking very seriously about that."
However, on Saturday evening, Dr Murray reiterated that at no time did he fail to act on an allegation of sexual abuse that he received while he was an auxiliary bishop of Dublin from 1982 to 1996.
In a letter read yesterday at Masses in the Limerick diocese, Bishop Murray sincerely apologised to all children who had been abused and said he deeply regretted if any action or omission of his had contributed to their suffering.
"As I look back on that time, I ask myself many questions, especially about the three cases in which the report criticises me," he said.
However, he underlined that "At no time did I, as an auxiliary bishop of Dublin, receive an allegation of sexual abuse and fail to act. When an allegation of sexual abuse of children by a priest was brought to my attention, I responded promptly and conscientiously and in each case notified the Archbishop and diocesan authorities and co-operated fully with them."
He added, "I never deliberately or knowingly sought to cover up or withhold information brought to my attention. There were, as the report notes, occasions when roles/responsibilities were not clear or where I did not have full information concerning cases in which I was asked to become involved."
Meanwhile the Bishop and auxiliary bishops of the Diocese of Down and Connor have issued a pastoral reflection which is being circulated at Masses today across the diocese. In the reflection, Bishop Noel Treanor along with his assistant bishops and priests express their horror and distress at the findings of the Murphy report.
They write, “The recent publication of the Dublin Report into cases of child abuse within the Archdiocese of Dublin from 1975-2004 is a shameful reminder to us of the pain and suffering experienced, both directly and indirectly, by children at the hands of those who should have cared for and protected them."
They add, "As a Church, we must continue to apologise to those who have suffered for our failure to act and to listen to them in their hour of need. This abuse should never have happened and is contrary to the Christian call to reach out to the vulnerable in our society. Dreadful and painful as it is to address these issues, it is important to get to the truth of what happened and to find forums to discuss this problem.”
Bishop Noel Treanor and his officials assure their parishioners that they have “learned and are learning from mistakes in addressing the issue of child abuse” and they underline that they will be examining the report carefully to explore what lessons can be learned.
“We also wish to take this opportunity to affirm that we are committed both morally and legally to upholding the rights of children and young people and will continue to work openly and collaboratively with all statutory authorities to ensure that we, as a Church and as a society at large, address these issues,” they say.
