Damning Report Released in Ireland on Catholic Church Sex Abuse Cover Ups.

The preliminary portions of the much anticipated government report on the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal in the Diocese of Dublin, Ireland was released today and The Irish Times is full of related stories on the horrific abuse - which was deliberately covered up by the Church hierarchy (including 1 cardinal, 3 archbishops and at least 6 bishops: the cardinal and archbishops are pictured at right) for over three decades. While the Catholic Church pretends that it is the arbiter of morality in the USA, the report details reveal the actual moral bankruptcy and depravity of the Church leadership. As I have stated before, the bishops and cardinals involved, if still living, deserve to be facing criminal prosecution and prison time. While the Church claims that full civil equality for gays threatens marriage and society, it would seem the Church itself and its unrepentant leadership - and that includes Pope Benedict XVI - are a far greater menace. Here are some highlights:

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The Commission of Investigation into Dublin’s Catholic Archdiocese has concluded that there is “no doubt” that clerical child sexual abuse was covered up by the archdiocese and other Church authorities. The commission’s report covers the period between January 1st 1975 and April 30th 2004. It said there cover-ups took place over much of this period.
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In its report, published this afternoon, it has also found that “the structures and rules of the Catholic Church facilitated that cover-up.” It also found that “the State authorities facilitated the cover-up by not fulfilling their responsibilities to ensure that the law was applied equally to all and allowing the Church institutions to be beyond the reach of the normal law enforcement processes.”
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Where individual Archbishops of Dublin were concerned it found that Archbishop John Charles McQuaid - who held office from 1940 to 1972 - did not apply canon law where such allegations were concerned, though he was familiar with its requirements.
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Archbishop Dermot Ryan - who held office from 1972 to 1984 - “failed to properly investigate complaints” against any of the six priests dealt with by the Commission from his period in office. “He also ignored the advice given by a psychiatrist in the case of another priest (Fr Henry Moore) that he had placed in a parish setting.” It found that Fr Moore was subsequently convicted of a serious assault on a young teenager while working as a parish curate. Archbishop Ryan also seemed to have adopted “a deliberate policy” to ensure that knowledge of problems involving accused priests “was as restricted as possible.”
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Archbishop Kevin McNamara - who held office from 1984 to 1987 - restored to ministry a priest, Fr Bill Carney, despite his having pleaded guilty to charges of child sex abuse in 1983 and despite suspicions about him where “numerous” other children were concerned.
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Cardinal Desmond Connell, who held office as Archbishop from 1988 to April 2004, “was slow to recognise the seriousness of the situation” on assuming office. He was “over-reliant” on the advice of other people. While “clearly appalled by the abuse” it took him some time “to realize that it could not be dealt with by keeping it secret and protecting priests from normal civil processes.” He showed “little understanding of the overall plight of victims”
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Yet another Irish Times story reveals that the Church knowingly used a 'don't ask, don't tell' approach caring more about the Church's image rather than the welfare of children and youths. As a parent, I cannot comprehend how this false men of God could be so uncaring and callous - it's another argument for married priests because I doubt someone with children of their own could have been so uncaring. Here are more highlights from the report via the Irish Times:

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The pre-occupations of the Dublin Archdiocese in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse, at least until the mid 1990s, were the “maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the Church and the preservation of its assets”, the Murphy commission has said.
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It says the American phrase “don’t ask, don’t tell” was appropriate to describe the attitude of the Dublin Archdiocese to clerical sex abuse for most of the period covered by the report. There was an “obsessive concern with secrecy and the avoidance of scandal” and successive Archbishops and bishops failed to report complaints to the gardai prior to 1996.
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Many of the auxiliary bishops also knew of the fact of abuse as did officials, including Monsignor Gerard Sheehy and Monsignor Alex Stenson who worked in the Chancellery. Bishop James Kavanagh, Bishop Dermot O’Mahony, Bishop Laurence Forristal, Bishop Donal Murray and Bishop Brendan Comiskey were aware for many years of complaints and/or suspicions of clerical child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese. Religious orders were also aware.
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“There is no doubt that the reaction of the Church authorities to reports of clerical child sexual abuse in the early years of the commission’s remit was to ensure that as few people as possible knew of the individual priest’s problem. “There was little or no concern for the welfare of the abuse child or for the welfare of other children who might come into contact with the priest. Complainants were often met with denial, arrogance and cover-up and with incompetence and incomprehension in some cases. Suspicions were rarely acted on.”
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“The Archbishops, bishops and other officials cannot claim that they did not know that child sexual abuse was a crime. As citizens of the State, they have the same obligations as all other citizens to uphold the law and report serious crimes to the authorities.”

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Since the findings in Ireland appear to mirror much of what is known to have occurred in dioceses across the USA, why is anyone listening to the Church on any moral issues? The Washington, D.C., City Council needs to ignore the Church's disingenuous whining on the issue of same sex marriage. As should the U.S. Congress in the context of health care reform. The Roman Catholic Church should be given no deference or respect until the hierarchy is totally cleansed of those in anyway involved in the cover up of sexual abuse crimes against children and youths - something that would likely wipe out large numbers of bishops and members of the College of Cardinals as well as the current Pope.