Talk:Sexual abuse cases in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin

Allegation against Archbishop McQuaid
The section headed "Allegations against Bishop (should be Archbishop) McQuaid previously contained the sentence "No "Catholic" historian or "Catholic" journalist supports these claims. I have changed this to "reputable" historian and journalist. In fact I don't know of a single historian or journalist in Ireland - reputable or otherwise - who supports Cooney's sex allegations against the late Archbishop. I seem to recall one anti-clerical reviewer complaining that Cooney's claims were so transparently false that they might create sympathy for Dr. McQuaid!! Kilbarry1 Kilbarry1 (talk) 01:56, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

The statement that "while McQuaid ruled thousands of children were being abused in church run Institutions, abused by his clergy, under his watch" is supported by six examples, three of which are totally irrelevant. This is because a Bishop has no authority over priests in religious orders AND the Archbishop of Dublin has no real authority over the Bishop of Ferns. The original article is an exercise in abuse. Kilbarry1 (talk) 18:54, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Powers of a Bishop and Archbishop
A Bishop of the Catholic Church has authority only over "secular" clergy in his diocese. These are the ordinary parish clergy as distinct from "regular" clergy i.e. priests who are members of religious orders. Thus Archbishop McQuaid had no authority whatsoever over Fr Thomas Naughton or Fr Brendan Smyth both of whom were members of religious orders (St Patrick's Missionary Society and the Norbertines respectively).

Also "Archbishop" is largely an honorary title in the modern Church, that is given to a Bishop of a large diocese or a historically important one. Thus, although Ferns is in his Metropolitan area, the Archbishop of Dublin has no real authority over the Bishop of Ferns. Even the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland simply acts as chairman of the Conference of Bishops that meets at Maynooth to co-ordinate Church policy. If an individual Bishop declines to apply agreed policy there is little that the Primate can do other than to refer the matter to Rome. Bishops are appointed by the Pope and can only be removed by him.

Thus the statement that "while McQuaid ruled thousands of children were being abused in church run Institutions, abused by his clergy, under his watch" is supported by six examples, three of which are totally irrelevant. Kilbarry1 (talk)

I re-instated the paragraph "Powers of a Bishop and Archbishop" in the main article. The claim that "while McQuaid ruled thousands of children were being abused in church run Institutions, abused by his clergy, under his watch" is outrageous. If it is allowed to remain then the contrary evidence should be there also. Kilbarry1 (talk) 18:05, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

I see that the offending statement has been removed. However the three "examples" remain in place even though they are irrelevant to the issue of "Sexual Abuse Scandal in the Dublin Archdiocese" which is supposed to be the subject of this article. I had previously added a comment about Fr Brendan Smyth pointing out that, as a member of a religious order, NO Bishop had authority over him. I have now added a similar comment re Fr Naughton. Also a note about the powers of the Archbishop of Dublin re the Bishops in his Metropolitan area. Since he has NO real authority over the Bishop of Ferns, I fail to see what this paragraph is doing in this article. Kilbarry1 (talk) 01:55, 27 May 2009 (UTC)


 * There is an official report coming out soon on this topic, which will likely give more precise information on who did what, when and how. While religious orders are technically independent from bishops and are affiliated to their own associations, it is widely understood that the bishops are the true leaders in the entire ecclesiastical organization. And too, it can be argued that the term diocese is really a territorial juridiction which includes the entire metropolitan area surrounded by the episcopal cathedral.  At the time, the bishops were very powerful and not only controlled the religious welfare of the laity and clergy, they also had control over the school system, the health-care department and were able to influence large parts of the secular government. ADM (talk) 07:33, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

ferns affair section
is of little coherence. copy it here for the time being. The Inquiry contacted the mother of the young woman involved who said that Bishop Éamonn Walsh (who, as Apostolic Administrator, assumed control of the Ferns Diocese following Comiskey's resignation) became aware of the allegation early in 2004. He called to see her daughter and urged her to make a formal statement, which she did. Walsh reported the matter to the Metropolitan for the Diocese of Ferns, Desmond Cardinal Connell, Archbishop of Dublin. A report on the matter was prepared for the Vatican. Comiskey was not interviewed during the preparation of this report. The report concluded that a delict had not been committed as regards the behaviour alleged but the fact that, under the influence of alcohol, Comiskey was alleged to have acted in such a manner was something that needed to be addressed to ensure that no repetition of such behaviour could take place.
 * Handling of the Ferns affair

Commission of Inquiry
It seems that the report may be published here.Autarch (talk) 18:13, 23 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Update - report is here.Autarch (talk) 15:05, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

Vincent Mercer
I've added a cite for Vincent Mercer, but does he belong on the page? His crimes were in Newbridge and he is only living in Dublin after doing his bird. He's not mentioned in the Murphy Report as he isn't diocesan.Red Hurley (talk) 13:38, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

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