Old picture of the revered and feared His Grace talking with the President of Ireland, Sean T. O' Kelly, and with Taoiseach, Sean Lemass;
Archbishop McQuaid was courted by Fr. Maciel to allow the Legion of Christ to open a house in Dublin in 1960; first he refused but then relented. See article following this news item. Notice discrepancy in LC posting regarding the year 1960/62
Archbishop McQuaid was courted by Fr. Maciel to allow the Legion of Christ to open a house in Dublin in 1960; first he refused but then relented. See article following this news item. Notice discrepancy in LC posting regarding the year 1960/62
Group urges Ireland to study abuse claims against former Dublin prelate
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DUBLIN (CNS) -- An abuse victims' support group has urged the Irish government to set up a statutory inquiry to investigate whether there is any truth to allegations of sexual abuse against former Dublin Archbishop John McQuaid.
The support group One in Four made the request after The Irish Times said it had established that Archbishop McQuaid, who died in 1973, was the cleric referred to in a supplementary chapter of Judge Yvonne Murphy's report into abuse allegations in the Dublin Archdiocese.
A spokeswoman for Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said the matter is the subject of a police investigation.
One in Four's executive director, Maeve Lewis, said an inquiry "is the only way to establish the truth of the matter. If (Archbishop) McQuaid is innocent of the allegations, then it will be an opportunity to restore his good name.
"If the allegations are true, then we must know the extent of the sexual abuse, who else was involved and, crucially, if the church or civil authorities of the time had knowledge of the abuse but failed to act. If records exist, they must be examined," she said.
Lewis noted that Archbishop McQuaid was the Dublin church leader for more than 30 years "and was, at that time, possibly the most powerful, influential and feared man in Ireland. If Archbishop McQuaid was, as is alleged, a sex offender himself, then it is no wonder that the secrecy and cover-ups which have characterized the church's handling of sexual abuse was so entrenched."
The Murphy Report, published in 2009, found that the reputation of the church and the avoidance of scandal had been placed ahead of the needs of children to be protected. It looked at the archdiocese's handling of more than 300 abuse claims lodged between 1975 and 2004. The report was critical of Archbishop McQuaid and three of his successors for failing to respond adequately to abuse allegations.
The supplementary chapter was published in July. It deals with two sex abuse complaints as well as a separate "concern" investigated by the Murphy Commission. One complaint alleges abuse of a 12-year-old boy by Archbishop McQuaid in 1961.
The prelate, who became archbishop of Dublin in 1940, is not identified by name in the supplementary report but is described as a cleric who "has been dead for many years."
The supplementary chapter reports that, in mid-2009, as the Murphy Report was being finalized, the investigating commission received information that "brought another cleric" within its remit. The complaint concerned an adult who, in 2003, alleged to social services that he had been abused by Archbishop McQuaid.
The 2003 complaint was not forwarded to Murphy due to what the commission described as "human error." It was only when Archbishop Martin discovered the allegation in May 2009 that the judge was informed.
The archdiocese then organized a further review of its files and found a letter "which showed that there was an awareness among a number of people in the archdiocese that there had been a concern expressed about this cleric in 1999." This is around the same time that journalist John Cooney published his book, "John Charles McQuaid: Ruler of Catholic Ireland," which first aired an allegation that Archbishop McQuaid had been accused of abuse. Historians at the time widely dismissed Cooney's claim.
Then in 2010, after the commission's report had been published, Archbishop Martin told it he had received another abuse complaint against Archbishop McQuaid. The 2010 complaint is the subject of a civil action against the archdiocese.
Copyright (c) 2011 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
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The support group One in Four made the request after The Irish Times said it had established that Archbishop McQuaid, who died in 1973, was the cleric referred to in a supplementary chapter of Judge Yvonne Murphy's report into abuse allegations in the Dublin Archdiocese.
A spokeswoman for Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said the matter is the subject of a police investigation.
One in Four's executive director, Maeve Lewis, said an inquiry "is the only way to establish the truth of the matter. If (Archbishop) McQuaid is innocent of the allegations, then it will be an opportunity to restore his good name.
"If the allegations are true, then we must know the extent of the sexual abuse, who else was involved and, crucially, if the church or civil authorities of the time had knowledge of the abuse but failed to act. If records exist, they must be examined," she said.
Lewis noted that Archbishop McQuaid was the Dublin church leader for more than 30 years "and was, at that time, possibly the most powerful, influential and feared man in Ireland. If Archbishop McQuaid was, as is alleged, a sex offender himself, then it is no wonder that the secrecy and cover-ups which have characterized the church's handling of sexual abuse was so entrenched."
The Murphy Report, published in 2009, found that the reputation of the church and the avoidance of scandal had been placed ahead of the needs of children to be protected. It looked at the archdiocese's handling of more than 300 abuse claims lodged between 1975 and 2004. The report was critical of Archbishop McQuaid and three of his successors for failing to respond adequately to abuse allegations.
The supplementary chapter was published in July. It deals with two sex abuse complaints as well as a separate "concern" investigated by the Murphy Commission. One complaint alleges abuse of a 12-year-old boy by Archbishop McQuaid in 1961.
The prelate, who became archbishop of Dublin in 1940, is not identified by name in the supplementary report but is described as a cleric who "has been dead for many years."
The supplementary chapter reports that, in mid-2009, as the Murphy Report was being finalized, the investigating commission received information that "brought another cleric" within its remit. The complaint concerned an adult who, in 2003, alleged to social services that he had been abused by Archbishop McQuaid.
The 2003 complaint was not forwarded to Murphy due to what the commission described as "human error." It was only when Archbishop Martin discovered the allegation in May 2009 that the judge was informed.
The archdiocese then organized a further review of its files and found a letter "which showed that there was an awareness among a number of people in the archdiocese that there had been a concern expressed about this cleric in 1999." This is around the same time that journalist John Cooney published his book, "John Charles McQuaid: Ruler of Catholic Ireland," which first aired an allegation that Archbishop McQuaid had been accused of abuse. Historians at the time widely dismissed Cooney's claim.
Then in 2010, after the commission's report had been published, Archbishop Martin told it he had received another abuse complaint against Archbishop McQuaid. The 2010 complaint is the subject of a civil action against the archdiocese.
Copyright (c) 2011 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
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