MAGEE ADDRESS:SPEAKING FROM the pulpit of St Colman's Cathedral in Cobh at 6pm Mass on Saturday, Bishop John Magee said he had promised at midnight Mass last Christmas he would brief the congregation on work undertaken to date in Cloyne in relation to allegations of clerical sexual abuse by a number of priests in the diocese.
He said that since December, a number of meetings have been held between the diocese, the National Board for Safeguarding Children, the Garda Síochána and the HSE to review both current allegations and general communications between agencies.
Dr Magee reminded the congregation he had pledged last January to co-operate fully with the Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin Archdiocese after the Government extended its remit to investigate allegations of abuse in Cloyne.
“I am conscious of the fact that, as I have to give so much of my time and energy to the task ahead, conducting the normal administration of the diocese, in all its aspects, would prove to be very difficult,” Dr Magee added.
“Therefore . . . on February 4th last I requested the Holy See to appoint an Apostolic Administrator for the diocese,” he said. “The Apostolic Nuncio announced today that the Holy Father has acceded to my request and has appointed Archbishop Dermot Clifford as Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Cloyne.
“This means that the governance of the diocese has now been transferred to Archbishop Clifford and he has been given all the powers and duties of the Bishop of Cloyne. I retain the title of Bishop of Cloyne and I will dedicate my full time to . . . the inquiry.”
Dr Magee said he was grateful to Pope Benedict XVI for the appointment of Dr Clifford as Apostolic Administrator and he said that he will give him every assistance in running the diocese.
Dr Magee (72) said that once he realised the amount of work involved in co-operating with the commission of inquiry, he had asked five senior clerics within the diocese to carry out forthcoming confirmations on his behalf.
“I asked the diocesan vicars forane to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation in their respective deaneries this year . . .
“I ask you to join with me as we continue to remember in our prayers any persons who have been so wrongly abused by priests of this diocese,” he concluded.