Still waiting for 'openess and transparency' from the Diocese of Salford!

News that Canon Mortimer Stanley, the former parish priest of St Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church in Norden has been interviewed by the Greater Manchester Police under caution, following accusations from three women that he sexually abused them as children ('Parishioners left shocked by abuse allegations', 11 December 2013), once again brings difficult issues to public attention. Not least amongst these issues is the need to shine a light on the actions of the Diocese of Salford and its agencies in response to cases where its priests have already been convicted of abusing children and, most especially, on its continuing refusal to provide information regarding the ongoing canonical status of such priests. I am thinking, in particular, of the case of Father William Green, former parish priest of Holy Family, Wigan.

Green was convicted in August 2008 of 26 offences of indecent assault against children and sentenced in October 2008 to 6 years imprisonment. However, since a spokesperson for the Diocese of Salford claimed in September 2010 that “William Green is in the process of being laicised.” the public and the Diocese of Salford have been told nothing about whether Father William Green has been laicised or not. Meanwhile, when I requested information about this from the Salford Diocese Safeguarding Commission in May 2012, its chair, Mr Michael Devlin told me that they would not respond to my questions.

It would, of course, be comforting (but naive) to hope that Green has been quietly laicised, but this cannot be taken for granted. In an earlier case in the Diocese of Salford, the public and parishioners were persuaded to assume that Father Thomas Doherty, the former parish priest of St Joseph’s, Todmorden had been laicised, only to discover at his death in 2010 that he had gone to his grave still a priest. This was despite his conviction for serious offences of indecency against a boy under 16 and a 6 year sentence, and despite the fact that Bishop Terence Brain of Salford is amongst those who, since 2001, have claimed to be fully committed to implementing the recommendations of the Nolan report, including those regarding laicisation. Recommendation 78, for example, states that “if a bishop, priest or deacon is convicted of a criminal offence against children and is sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment of 12 months or more, then it would normally be right to initiate the process of laicisation and failure to do so would need to be justified”.

People in the Diocese of Salford have been promised openness and transparency in these matters many times, only to be disappointed by the refusal of the Diocese to answer simple questions. In Norden on Sunday, they were told by Bishop Brain's spokesperson that they could rely on the "robust safeguarding procedures put in place by the Catholic Church in this country in recent years", but in previous recent cases like Green's, the Diocese will not tell us the outcome of any procedures it has followed and in Doherty's case they do not even appear to have followed the policies they claim to support.

Robust procedures are only as good as their implementation. Rhetoric is not the same thing as reality, and in light of the latest cause for concern in Rochdale, it is high time that we learned whether and how the Diocese is actually implementing the Nolan recommendations. A dozen years after Bishop Brain and his brother bishops told us that they had accepted Nolan, it is surely time for him or Mr Devlin to be open with us. We need to know whether or not Father William Green remains 'alter Christus' (another Christ) in the eyes of the Diocese and we still need to know why Father Thomas Doherty was never laicised.

Canon Mortimer Stanley interviewed by police under caution.

Three women accuse Catholic priest of sexually abusing them as children

See http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/rochdale-catholic-priest-canon-mortimer-6381949 

Canon Mortimer Stanley, 82, who retired in 2002 from St Vincent de Paul RC Church in Norden, Rochdale, has been interviewed by police under caution.
Three women have claimed they were indecently assaulted and sexually abused while pupils at nearby St Vincent’s Primary School.
The women were aged under 11 when its is alleged the offences happened between 1980 and 2000.
It is claimed the abuse was committed in a presbytery next to the school.

Canon Stanley, who joined the church as parish priest in 1972, retired to his native Ireland in 2002.
Police have appealed to other women who may have information to come forward.
Det Con Christian Chivers, of GMP's Public Protection Unit, said: “I want to reassure local residents, and more importantly parents of children currently at St Vincent’s that these are historical incidents.
“While we do not believe there is any reason for current pupils or their families to be unduly concerned, this is extremely serious and upsetting for the victims in this case, who we are continuing to provide specialist support to.

Canon Stanley retired to Ballybunion in Kerry, Ireland in 2002.
Anyone with information should either call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Could you make it up? - Father William Green, Caritas Salford and the Ogben Family Charitable Trust

See
http://paulmalpas.com/laicisation-or-licensed-freedom-that-is-the-question-for-the-salford-diocese/ for some interesting observations on the behaviour of 'charities' in the Diocese of Salford.

Paul's blog refers to the  Hogben Family Trust as the owners of the building near St Bede's College where William Green was housed earlier this year; a technicality which allowed the CEO of Salford Caritas to assure me that Green was not, in fact, accommodated in a property 'owned' by his organisation!

Further research now reveals that the Hogben Family Charitable Trust is a "Removed Charity" which "ceased to exist" on 2 July 2009 (see  http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/RemovedCharityMain.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1114551&SubsidiaryNumber=0 )

Governors stand down at sex scandal hit St Bede's College

Please see:  http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/governors-stand-down-sex-scandal-3409459

Governors stand down at sex scandal hit St Bede's College

4 May 2013 09:06

Former headmaster John Byrne is among seven governors who have resigned from the board at St Bede’s College, the M.E.N. can reveal

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St Bede's College

Governors at a top Catholic school rocked by historic sex abuse claims have stepped down to shield themselves from legal action brought by almost 20 alleged victims.
Former headmaster John Byrne is among seven governors who have resigned from the board at St Bede’s College, the M.E.N. can reveal.
The Bishop of Salford, the Diocese of Salford and governors at the Whalley Range school all face being sued over accusations that former rector Monsignor Thomas Duggan sexually abused schoolboys at St Bede’s during the 1950s and 1960s.
The M.EN. has learnt that one alleged victim claims he was raped by the late Mgr Duggan as a 12-year-old. We can also reveal that accusations of serious sexual abuse have been made against two other priests at St Bede’s in the 1950s – Father Charles Mulholland and Father Vincent Hamilton – who have both also since died.
It is understood the seven lay governors have now stood down to protect themselves from claims brought by 17 alleged victims. Ten governors remain – including priests and some lay board members.

Accused: Monsignor Thomas Duggan pictured at St Bede's

  None of the governors who have stepped down were at the school at the time of the alleged abuse.
A spokeswoman for St Bede’s said: “The college understands that the governors did indeed resign tactically in order to protect themselves insofar as possible from the legal claims.
“Whilst it is the college’s position that the current governors can have no personal liability for events alleged to have occurred over 50 years ago, and before many of the current governors were even born, that has not been accepted by the solicitors acting for some of the claimants, so the governors felt they had no option but to resign.
“The college deeply regrets their resignations but entirely appreciates the reasons why they have resigned.”
At the time of the claims against Mgr Duggan, when the Alexandra Road school was run by the diocese, a rector was in charge. Mgr Duggan died in 1968 after leaving St Bede’s.
Georgina Calvert-Lee, barrister at AO Advocates, which is acting on behalf of 14 alleged victims, confirmed that litigation was ‘imminent’.
She added: “Many of the allegations are about Mgr Duggan. By all accounts he was an oppressive presence in the school. Boys have told us how he terrified they were of him.”
Ms Calvert-Lee said there were allegations of harsh assaults and beatings and Mgr Duggan was accused of raping one boy early in his tenure and others later. She added accusations had been made against Fr Mulholland and Fr Hamilton.
According to Companies House, Mr Byrne, who was at the school for 25 years, resigned in March – along with four others. Mr Byrne, of Hale Barns, Altrincham, said: “I have resigned as governor but I cannot comment any further because of legal proceedings.”
The Diocese of Salford declined to comment.
The scandal involving Mgr Duggan, which emerged in 2011, was the second to hit St Bede’s. In 2010, Father William Green was jailed for six years after sexually abusing a string of boys.

Tell Pope Francis To Keep Paedophile Priests Away From Children

PLEASE SEE:

Please see http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/04/furor_intensifies_over_newark.html

AND GO TO:

http://www.causes.com/actions/1749705-tell-pope-francis-no-more-recycling-priests-that-abuse-children?recruiter_id=34159090&reposter=812816&token=v99o8VORz54YpM1yrQ_ffi-B&utm_campaign=activity_invitation_mailer%2Factivity_invitation&utm_medium=email&utm_source=causes

TO SIGN THE PETITION

Important edition of 'Child Abuse Review' dealing with abuse by Catholic clergy in England and Wales and Ireland

See http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/car.v21.6/issuetoc;jsessionid=25D623D50495EF391AC65CE681F486AF.d01t04

1. Original Articles

   1. Say Nothing! How Pathology within Catholicism Created and Sustained the Institutional Abuse of Children in 20^th Century Ireland (pages 394–404)Claire McLoone-Richards
      
      
   2. Child Abuse in Irish Catholic Settings: A Non-Reductionist Account (pages 405–413)David Pilgrim
      
      
   3. Contrasting Narratives on Responses to Victims and Survivors of Clerical Abuse in England and Wales: Challenges to Catholic Church Discourse (pages 414–426)Philip Gilligan
      
      

2. Research Articles

   1. Clerical Abuse and Laicisation: Rhetoric and Reality in the Catholic Church in England and Wales (pages 427–439)Philip Gilligan