SEANAD REPORT:A FIANNA Fáil Senator expressed shock that humour had been brought into a discussion about debating the report on child abuse in the diocese of Cloyne. She had also been taken aback at suggestions that such a debate be delayed.
Mary White made her observation after party colleague Terry Leyden had claimed that “the difficulty with the bishop” was that unfortunately, he had been involved in a major cover-up in the Vatican when Pope John Paul I died suddenly in 1978. “There was a major cover-up then and in those circumstances, he was then made Bishop of Cloyne.”
There was laughter when Cathaoirleach Paddy Burke told Mr Leyden that those points could be made during the Cloyne debate.
Martin Conway (FG) said it was quite inappropriate that Mr Leyden would “go down this particular line”, given the sensitive nature of the Cloyne report. It was appalling that anyone would do so.
Mr Leyden said he was not making light of the situation. He called for a full, measured and reasoned debate on the report, based on facts, before the summer recess. The victims were the ones who were suffering, but at least now there was a start at closure.
He said church fundamentals – as embodied in the sermon on the mount – were still right and “people should not use this all the time to get at the church”. Ms White agreed that it should be read fully by members, but this could be done in a matter of days.
Child abuse was the greatest cruelty that could be done to the young, affecting not only the victims but their parents, relatives and friends. People’s lives were destroyed. The Catholic Church must be made responsible to the State and be held accountable.
Objecting to any delay in a debate, Ms White asked if Senators had become anaesthetised to what had been so eloquently placed before them by Ministers Alan Shatter and Frances Fitzgerald. James Heffernan (Lab) said it was high time that Bishop John Magee faced the music. He hoped the Garda Commissioner would make him account for his actions, or rather his inactions. “What he did, in my opinion, is nothing short of criminal negligence.”
Mr Heffernan added that the Vatican, which bore ultimate responsibility for the cover-ups, deception and lies, should now be made accountable for its actions.
