Readers of this blog will be interested to note that during the BBC Radio 4 'Sunday' programme item reporting on how priests in the Diocese of Salford convicted of sexually abusing children have not been thrown out of the priesthood (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/sunday [the item starts approx 30 minutes after the start of the programme]), the Safeguarding Coordinator, Father Barry O'Sullivan says in response to a question about Doherty being allowed to remain a priest until his death, more than 12 years after his conviction
"whether or not he died as a priest, to me, is secondary; its almost inconsequential"
CAADS is very surprised that Father O'Sullivan views an individual's canonical status as a priest as "almost inconsequential", especially when, as a priest he is presumably aware that the catechism of the Church teaches that
“The sacrament of Holy Orders communicates a ‘sacred power’ which is none other than that of Christ” (Chapman, 1995: 347).
CAADS also notes that the attitudes which seem to underpin the somewhat belated attempts to justify the failure of Bishop Brain to send Doherty's letter requesting laicisation to the Vatican appear to be in very marked contrast to what the ten members of the Nolan committee said in their report in 2001. For example,
"…we were concerned to make plain that there is a level of seriousness, as demonstrated by the criminal courts, at which we would expect the process of laicisation always to be begun." (Nolan, 2001b: 14)
and, in even more marked contrast to what was said by Benedict XVI about the sexual abuse of children on 12 July 2008, i.e.
“It must be clear, it was always clear from the first centuries that priesthood, to be a priest, is incompatible with this behaviour…” (See http://www.catholicculture.org/library/view.cfm?recnum=8303 ).
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Safeguarding Coordinator says priestly status is "almost inconsequential"
"The Church needs to get real" - BBC Radio 4 'Sunday' programme - 10 April 2011
CAADS is very pleased that at least some of the facts about these cases are finally being brought into the public arena after years of silence from Bishop Brain and reported statements from the likes of Father Barry O'Sullivan about Doherty being "effectively laicised", when, in fact, he remained, according to the Church, alter Christus ('another Christ') and was, indeed, left free to say "a private mass".
CAADS will not "back off" from continuing to ask questions about the cases of Doherty and Green and looks forward to the emergence of further information about how the Diocese of Salford handled these cases. For example:
Why did it take 4 months, after his sentencing, for Green to be asked to write a letter requesting laicisation?
How much Diocesan money was spent providing Doherty with the house he lived in following his release from prison?
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Apology for Manchester abuse long overdue - letter published by 'The Tablet' 24 March 2011
After several long months of waiting, I am pleased to see that Bishop Terence Brain of Salford has finally issued an "apology" about the horrifying abuse reported as being perpetrated against children by Mgr Thomas Duggan ("Bishop apologises for abuse at Manchester school", The Tablet, 17 March). However, I note that it has taken the diocese and the bishop an extraordinarily long time to make any public announcement about these events.
Fr Barry O'Sullivan has been the Child Protection /Safeguarding Coordinator in the diocese of Salford since 2001 and admits to hearing "stories" about Mgr Duggan, since 1987. So why has the diocese waited until 2011, before acknowledging the pain and distress suffered by those affected?
Philip Gilligan, Rochdale
Duggan Case Reported on BBC Radio 4 'Sunday' Programme 27 March 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Making the Church face up to the truth of abuse
Why doesn’t the Catholic Church de-frock priests who abuse children? It’s a question that perturbs Richard Scorer as he considers the case of paedophile priest Father William Green, who taught at top Catholic school, St Bede’s College, Whalley Range.
Green admitted 27 assaults on children in his care and was jailed for six years in October 2008 for ‘systematically’ sexually abusing a string of boys over 20 years ago. But Mr Scorer, who acted for Green’s victims against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford – the diocese includes St Bede’s – is concerned that Green has yet to be laicized (de-frocked).
He is also worried by a separate case involving St Bede’s. Over 50 ex pupils, led by Radio 2 folk DJ, Mike Harding, have campaigned for an apology from the Bishop of Salford, over claims that a former rector, Monsignor Thomas Duggan, sexually and mentally abused boys at the school in the 50s and 60s when it was run by the diocese.
Harding, a former pupil though not one of Duggan’s alleged victims, is angry that the apology issued by the Bishop, the Right Reverend Terence Brain, does not go far enough in condemning Duggan, who died in 1968 shortly after leaving St Bede’s for a parish in Blackburn.
This does not surprise Mr Scorer, who is head of serious injury at Manchester law firm Pannone. “I am concerned that the apology has been extremely guarded but sadly this is not unusual. These situations need a full and frank apology. We have been aware of Monsignor Duggan and his alleged abuse of pupils at St Bede’s for some time and have been in discussion with victims.”
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Why did it take until 2011 when they had "heard stories about Duggan for 23 years"?
After several long months of waiting, I am pleased to see that the Manchester Evening News has finally published something about the horrifying abuse reported as being perpetrated against children by Monsignor Thomas Duggan, the Rector of St Bede's College between 1950 and 1966 ('Church says sorry over sex abuse claims', Manchester Evening News, 15 March 2011). However, I note that it has taken the Diocese and the Bishop of Salford an extraordinary long time to make any public
announcement about these events.
I say "an extraordinary long time", because it was already very clear from information available since autumn 2010 that rumours about Monsignor Duggan have been circulating amongst priests in the Salford Diocese for more than twenty years. For example, Father Barry O'Sullivan, the Coordinator of the Salford Safeguarding Commission, told representatives of some of Duggan's many victims at a meeting on 10
September 2010, "I wasn't surprised to get your report. ... Because I've been a priest for 23 years. I've heard stories for 23 years about Duggan; on the golf course or on retreats" (see http://www.mediafire.com/?se3udyzz3jql7gr; Father O'Sullivan's statement comes approximately 20 minutes into the recording).
Father O'Sullivan has been the Child Protection / Safeguarding Coordinator in the Diocese of Salford since 2001 and admits to hearing "stories" about Monsignor Duggan, since 1987. So, why has the Diocese waited until 2011, before acknowledging the pain and distress suffered by those affected?