Statement from Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin.

STATEMENT OF ARCHBISHOP DIARMUID MARTIN ON THE PUBLICATION OF THE FINAL SECTIONS OF THE MURPHY REPORT

“For those who were abused by Patrick McCabe the publication of the final sections of Chapter 20 of the Murphy Report will bring to life again for them horrific experiences. My comment made on the occasion of the publication of the major part of the Report of the Murphy Commission in November 2009 remains my sentiment today as the final section of the Report is published: 

“The hurt done to a child through sexual abuse is horrific. Betrayal of trust is compounded by the theft of self esteem. The horror can last a lifetime. Today, it must be unequivocally recalled that the Archdiocese of Dublin failed to recognise the theft of childhood which survivors endured and the diocese failed in its responses to them when they had the courage to come forward, compounding the damage done to their innocence. For that no words of apology will ever be sufficient.”

My concern today is with the victims of Patrick McCabe, those who have come forward to tell their stories and those for whom the pain of telling their story is still too raw. I think of the parents and the spouses and the children of the victims whose lives have also been damaged by what happened.

For those abused by Patrick McCabe, the wait for truth has been a long one. They rightly also feel that their fight for justice has been a long one and as I know from my meetings with some of the survivors, justice delayed compounded their suffering. I hope that today, with the publication of the full Chapter 20 of the Murphy Report some of their suffering will ease.

The Archdiocese of Dublin continues to receive information about allegations and concerns about Patrick McCabe, as about other men who ministered in this diocese and who were serial abusers of children. Any new information received by the Diocesan Child Safeguarding Service is shared with the civil Authorities and the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church. The Archdiocese of Dublin is aware of allegations against Patrick McCabe by over 30 named persons here and in the United States.

There are those who think that with the publication of the final chapter of the Murphy Report we can now draw a line under this dark period in the history of the church in Dublin. There are still those who would challenge the work of the Murphy Commission. I repeat that the Murphy Report represents and remains a true milestone which marks our history. What happened to children in the Church of Jesus Christ in the Archdiocese of Dublin is something that must never be forgotten. It is a part of the history of the Archdiocese and can never be whitewashed away. The Murphy Report is a document that must continue to guide and inform our protection policies today and into the future.

Thankfully, we have hundreds of dedicated and trained child safeguarding volunteers in our parishes, working tirelessly to ensure that children are as safe as possible in all areas of Church life.

That ongoing child protection work and the enormous change in structure and in attitude in the Church to the safeguarding of children, is a tribute to the courage and strength of those survivors who came forward to tell the truth of what happened to them in the past.”

Statement can be viewed on Archdiocesan website HERE

Irish Times article - 15th July 2013 - Garda Commissioner expresses ‘regret’ at handling of abuse claims in Murphy report.

By Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent -  The Irish Times

A file was sent to the DPP “with a strong Garda recommendation that the young man be prosecuted for blackmail. Interest in the progress of this file extended to the top echelons of the Garda including the Commissioner’s office.”

CLICK HERE to read the full article.

RTE Radio - Morning Ireland - Coverage of Chapter 20 of the Murphy Report.

Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent with The Irish Times, discusses the publication of the final chapter of the Murphy report into clerical sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin.

CLICK HERE to Listen

Murphy Report - Chapter 20 - Now released in it's entirety.

Chapter 20 of the Murphy Report now released.

CLICK HERE TO READ PDF

Is patience always a virtue?

After 37 years of waiting and the degree of recent press exposure, I thought there would be a modicum of understanding from the Irish authorities toward my situation. I would class myself as a patient person in many ways. I always try to give the benefit of the doubt to others even when there is a voice somewhere within, telling me to do otherwise.

Since Patrick McCabe was sentenced on 22nd March, it has been a complete whirlwind of emotion and I have tried to underplay it as best I can in the interests of self preservation, selfishly. Everywhere I turn there are triggers. Some self inflicted because of running the petition and because triggers of past experiences are now part of my DNA.

I have been patient since I gave my first statement to Archbishop's House in 1977. I was patient when I saw my mother crying so often in pure frustration because she didn't know what to do for the best and there was no help or support for her. I was patient for the 10 year period from 2003-2013 whilst McCabe was extradited from the U.S. and brought to Justice. I was patient when the Irish authorities told me that there was nothing more could be done to prosecute my other abuser. I was patient throughout my 5 trips to Dublin (within a six month period) for the trial. I was patient when McCabe's plea was accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions. I am now TRYING to be patient whilst waiting for Chapter 20 of the Murphy report to be released.

Lots of dates and numbers, lots of gaps and timelines. They don't mean very much to anyone except me. This has been my life. Of course I have had good times and I am tired of measuring moments in my life against abuse triggers such as arrest dates,extradition dates, court appearance dates, sentencing dates and scheduled dates for the release of Chapter 20. I was 12 when I was first abused. The day of my 50th birthday was spent travelling to Ireland for McCabe's sentencing. Unacceptable.

All I ever wanted was to believe that someone, somewhere, had my best interests at heart and what happened to me was wrong and it mattered. After all the fury and disgust displayed by the Catholic Church and the Irish Government over the past 10 years, someone would demonstrate that although I was a very small cog in a very large wheel, someone, somewhere cared.

However I feel the exact opposite.

I am proud to be Irish and although I live in Britain I will always be a proud Irishman. The funny thing is my pride is being eroded as time goes by and the feeling of abandonment becomes more apparent. I am not seeking any grand gestures, just acknowledgement of simple requests or at the very least acknowledgement of my existence.

I have written to the Justice Minister in Ireland on three occasions. I had a response to the first and no response to the last two. I am not jumping up and down demanding the impossible. I am requesting answers to simple questions and if they cannot be answered then just tell me or at least acknowledge that I have asked them. Please don't ignore me. Please don't ignore any of the victims of sexual abuse, especially now because all we hear is how things have changed. Really? ......Really?

I am patient, but after 37 years of patience and being ignored, I am getting tired of feeling unsupported, uncared for and worst of all an Irishman unimportant to Irish State.

Basically what I am trying to say is that every citizen of every country has a patriotic streak, to a greater or lesser extent and if a citizen wishes to ignore it - that's a choice. I however love Ireland and the Irish. The fact I am the product of my past is something for me to deal with, albeit painful.

I didn't choose to be Irish but am proud to be. It feels like I have been running away from it, crying about it or fighting it all my adult life. Insane as it may sound, I suppose I yearn for the day when I feel Ireland is proud of me. Something tells me that's the impossible dream. What I want to talk about is not some fictitious story from a dark and distant past, a past that lots of us would rather forget. Believe me, I would rather forget it, but my memories don't afford me that luxury.

I will not be making any further requests or asking any further questions of the Irish Government at this stage.

My email correspondence is shown below:

My first email to the Minister for Justice

My email asking for an earlier hearing -  Ignored

Asking for a 5 minute meeting with Mr Shatter -  Ignored

Irish Times article 02 April 2013 - Misplaced guilt.

Irish Times - 02 April 2013 - CLICK TO READ

The destructive power of unjustified guilt in sex abuse cases has been demonstrated again and again. Last month we saw yet another example when a former priest, Patrick McCabe, was convicted of sexually abusing two boys in the 1970s.

One of the telling aspects of the case was a statement by one of the victims, now 50, who said that in the aftermath of the abuse he felt he had failed his family.

I think it is of great importance for those who are abused and for their relatives to understand that inappropriate guilt is a feature of these acts of criminality both for abused children and for adults who are sexually abused by other adults. The destructive effects of such emotions are mentioned again and again in the aftermath of abuse cases. It may be that sense of guilt and shame that drives some abused people towards suicide or other self-destructive behaviours.

Sexual abuse is a shameful act and there is something in us as humans that feels tainted even though we have been the unwilling objects of a shameful act by another. This may be due to our psychological defensive system. Imagine that you provide security for a building and that the building is robbed. The guilt for this act belongs to those who have planned and carried out the robbery. But a focus of the inquiry that immediately begins will be, why didn’t the defences work? One could even imagine the person who was in charge of the security system feeling a certain amount of inappropriate guilt about the robbery. This is an example of how being the victim of abuse could actually lead a person to feel a sense of inappropriate guilt.

Possible culprit
The other possible culprit for this sense of inappropriate guilt is that part of the mind which is so quick to go on the attack when anything goes wrong.

Notice some of the really harsh things you say to yourself over the smallest mistakes or stumbles in your day. Most of us, if we really listen to these things and reflect on them can be astonished by the harshness of these self judgements. In my opinion, these harsh self judgements play a role in depression and suicide – and indeed we very often hear of suicidal thinking and suicidal behaviour as a feature of the damage done by sexual abusers. That harsh critic in the mind will attack the person who has been subjected to sexual abuse. This critic has nothing to do with conscience or indeed with logic. It can be irrational and cruel and all the more distressing for all of that. And because sexuality is at the very depth of our being that voice of guilt and of shame can be astonishingly deep.

One of the victims of McCabe said he had “experienced every emotion associated with self-loathing”. Even worse than that, perhaps, this man feels guilt for the deaths of his parents when they were only in their 50s and who seem to have suffered from that same poisonous, inappropriate guilt. “They had tried to give me a good foundation for my future and instead they felt responsible for sending me into a lion’s den,” he told the court in his victim impact statement. The part of the mind would attack you in this way was called by Freud “the superego”. It is terribly important to understand that the superego is an irrational, malfunctioning and dangerous part of the mind. 

Painful feature
What is worth taking out of all this is the realisation that persons subjected to abuse, assault and especially sexual exploitation suffer enormously from inappropriate guilt and shame. It is important that the persons feeling this guilt and shame understand that it is inappropriate and that they should not allow this to stop them from seeking help. It is also very important that those who seek to support such persons be aware of this very destructive and very painful feature of abuse.

Padraig O’Morain (pomorain@yahoo.com) is a counsellor accredited by the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. His Light Mind – Mindfulness for Daily Living book is published by Veritas. His monthly mindfulness newsletter is available free by email

Murphy report - Chapter 20 - Irish media pressing for release.

Sunday Independent 31st March

Censored section in Murphy sex abuse report set to be published

SUNDAY INDEPENDENT - RUAIDHRI GIBLIN – 31 MARCH 2013

A censored chapter in Judge Yvonne Murphy's report into the handling of clerical child sex abuse allegations by the Catholic Church and State is finally set for full publication.

Chapter 20 has remained censored on foot of a High Court direction that its full publication could damage the trial of a defrocked priest charged with the sexual assault of children in the 1970s and 80s.

Former priest Patrick McCabe was sentenced last week by the Circuit Criminal Court after having pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting two 13-year-old boys.

Although sentenced by Judge Margaret Heneghan to two concurrent 18-month jail terms, he walked free from the court because he had already been in custody for longer than the sentences handed down.

As a result of his trial, there is now no further need for the blanked-out chapter to remain secret.

McCabe was extradited from California in June 2011 and had been in custody for 21 months awaiting sentence. His identity could not be revealed last year when he pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting five other boys.

The handling of complaints made against McCabe was the subject of chapter 20 in the Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin diocese, chaired by Judge Yvonne Murphy and known as the Murphy Report.

The inquiry was set up by Government to investigate how church and State handled clerical child sex abuse allegations in the Dublin diocese between 1975 and 2004.

The report examined the handling of complaints made against a representative sample of 46 priests, though complaints had been levelled against more than 100. The report was published in 2009.

Chapter 19, also censored for similar legal reasons, was not published until the sentencing in 2010 of Tony Walsh, "probably the most notorious" abuser, according to the report.

Among the 50 pages of chapter 20, many of which were published blank, it was stated that the McCabe case "encapsulates everything that was wrong" with the Dublin diocese's handling of child sexual abuse cases.

According to the report, Archbishop Ryan not only knew about the complaints against McCabe but had "protected him to an extraordinary extent. . . It seems that the welfare of children simply did not play any part in his decisions", it stated.

Judge Murphy went on to state that "connivance by the gardai in effectively stifling one complaint and failing to investigate another, and in allowing [McCabe] to leave the country was shocking".

Following McCabe's sentencing, one of his victims, James Moran, waived his right to anonymity.

He said on Wednesday that he was alarmed to discover it could be months before the remainder of the Murphy Report was published.

Mr Moran said the legal reasons for withholding parts of chapter 20 no longer existed, and he had written to Minister for Justice Alan Shatter asking him for the date of release.

No further victims of McCabe are due to come before the courts, so there are no implications for the Murphy Report, Mr Moran said.

"Surely the time to release it is now, so the Irish people and the wider world will discover the truth, even if unpalatable," he said.

In a victim impact statement submitted to the court, Mr Moran said his voice was being heard after a long and painful journey.

"I have waited nearly 37 years for acknowledgment and justice," he said, adding that he often thought of all the victims who had been too afraid or too ashamed to come forward and expose the contamination within the church.

McCabe had changed the path of his life for ever, and while he may never be able to forgive completely, he wanted to begin some kind of healing process, he said.

Another delay? Surely not?

I was alarmed to discover the possible date for whether or not to publish the remainder of the Murphy report (CLICK HERE to read more about the Murphy Report) is set for 11th June 2013. If this is true, then surely the debate should be 'when' to publish and not 'whether' to publish.

Chapter 19 was released 9 days after Tony Walsh was sentenced in 2010. This release (chapter 20) should be no different as there are no further victims of McCabe to come before the courts that have any implication with the Murphy Report. Therefore there are no legal impediments to the complete release of chapter 20.

I would imagine there is nothing else to hide, so I have written to the Minister for Justice this morning asking him for the date of release.

The Murphy report was released in 2009 with parts withheld for legal reasons. Those legal reasons no longer exist. Surely the time to release it is now, so the Irish people and the wider world will discover the truth, even if unpalatable.'

My email has been acknowledged by the Minister's private secretary and I await the government response.

My email to the Irish Minister for Justice - 27th March 2013

Irish Independent article - 23 March 2013

Irish Independent article - 23 March 2013

Newstalk 106-108fm Radio interview.

Speaking about my abuse on The Sunday Show with Shane Coleman. Listen on radio, online, via Newstalk app, on UPC Ireland Channel 932 and in the UK SKY channel 0210

Newstalk 106-108fm Website - CLICK HERE


Newstalk interview now available HERE* 
* May take a moment to load player.

RTE News Report

RTE News Report - Click here

TV3 Ireland News Report

TV3 Ireland News Report - Click here

Daily Star - Report on the sentencing of McCabe

Daily Star - 22 Mar 2013

Another chapter closed.

At Dublin airport preparing to fly back to UK. Its been a roller coaster of a day. The sentence was light but he started to serve his own personal sentence 5 years ago when the Irish authorities contacted him.
The messages of support have been astounding but without it the mountain was unclimbable.
Thanks everyone. X

VIDEO - TV3 News Report after McCabe's sentencing - 22 March 2013

TV3 News Ireland from 22nd March 2013. Speaking after the sentencing of Patrick McCabe at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

If you have any difficulty playing the report, it is also available on Youtube: CLICK HERE TO PLAY VIA YOUTUBE

2003 - 2013

The past ten years since the Garda investigation started in earnest, has been filled with incredible highs and lows, given that McCabe was living in the U.S.A. Just when I thought there was some hope, it would be dashed by some legality or other. At this time I was also advised to take a civil case against the Dublin Diocese and  Newbridge College combined. I received a nominal award but the disclaimer I had to sign was mostly stating the church accepted no liability. To me this was not Justice. They had merely ticked a box on a very long list.

There were many times when I thought no criminal prosecution would take place at all. The Irish Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) had reservations. It was not going to be easy to prosecute the case, nor was it going to be easy to extradite him from America back to Ireland.

The Gardai submitted my file several times to the DPP and he directed that no prosecution should take place.I then started writing to the DPP in Dublin and started to explain what happened at the hands of both priests, the affect it was having on my life and the affect it had on my parents lives. (I just stopped short of offering an internal organ in return for an attempt at prosecution).

McCabe was asked if he would allow an interview by the Irish Garda and he declined. Some time after the Garda were given permission to travel to America to interview him. This time he agreed and told the Gardai enough to build a case for extradition.

I continued to write to the DPP each time I found new evidence, even if it was the name of a Bishop or Monsignor that my Mother and I had visited. When I remembered the smallest detail I would forward it to the Gardai and the DPP. I've lost count of how often I wrote but it didn't matter because I was like a dog with a bone.

I owed it to my Mother's memory to do whatever I could to see justice done. She had made it her personal quest and I had no option but to continue that quest.

_________________________________________________________________

Moves begin in US to extradite ex-priest over abuse claims

• Topics:
• News

Mon, Aug 9, 2010, 01:00

First published:Mon, Aug 9, 2010, 01:00

                                                                                                      

EXTRADITION proceedings have begun in the United States against an elderly former Irish priest accused of child sex abuse offences.

Patrick McCabe (74), who now lives in California, is the subject of 10 warrants that have been issued in the Irish courts for his extradition.

Nine relate to allegations of indecent assault and one to attempted indecent assault. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail if found guilty in an Irish court of the offences.

Mr McCabe was remanded in custody last week and will remain there pending the full extradition hearing which is likely to take place this autumn. October 25th has been requested by his defence for the extradition hearing.

_________________________________________________________________

The trial date was set for Feb 2012 but was postponed. I was then issued with a subpoena to appear before the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in July 2012. When I got to court, he had issued a reduced plea, which I was willing to accept but it was too removed from the facts of the case. Trial postponed until Feb 2013.

We depart tomorrow for our 4th Court appearance in 6 weeks. I'm not giving any consideration to what sentence will be given. My expectations are somewhere between barrel-bottom and low.

The most important point I would like to make is that there are no victories attached to any of this. No champagne corks will be popped in celebration. What it is on Friday is what it should have been 37 years ago and that is plain and simple justice.

After all, Justice is a civil right.

Priest Abuser McCabe Compares Himself to Jesus Christ

Priest Abuser McCabe Compares Himself to Jesus Christ

Highland Radio coverage of McCabe's guilty plea.

Happy Birthday?

Today I am 50 years old but instead of celebrating my birthday I am flying to Ireland to appear in court and come face to face with one of two men that sexually abused me when I was 13 years old.

I have not seen him since that day and I don't know what to expect or how I will react.

I am told the trial could last 7 to 10 days and I am not relishing the experience. He may offer a guilty plea to a reduced charge but I have no control whether it's acceptable to the state, so it's out of my hands.              

It has been a 37 year wait........... and it is only about 37 years late.

Press report on McCabe's extradition from California.

Press report on McCabe's extradition from Alameda, California.