Report finds Bishop Murray ignored complaints; refuses to resign
The report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, published yesterday, includes particularly scathing criticism of the Bishop of Limerick, Donal Murray.
It concludes that Murray was aware “for many years” of complaints and suspicions of child sexual abuse (page 6), and concludes in usually blunt language that Murray dealt “badly” with complaints he received (page 13), “inexcusably” failing to investigate a number allegations (page 14).
Despite these failings, The Irish Times today reports that Murray “insisted he does not intend to resign over his role into how the abuse was handled”.
As Bishop of Limerick, Murray previously received harsh criticism for his handling of the case of Peter McCloskey. McCloskey committed suicide in 2006, two days after clashing with Murray and Diocesan legal representatives. He was abused by Fr Denis Daly of Caherdavin as a ten-year-old boy. More information may be found in his mother’s statement and at Bock the Robber.
Excerpts from the report include:
“In the Commission‟s view, Bishop Murray must take some responsibility for the very poor handling of complaints against this priest.” (Page 467) “Overall, in their handling of the complaints against Fr Naughton, archdiocesan authorities, particularly Bishop Murray, the Valleymount parish priest and Archbishops Ryan and McNamara let down those families who, because they were good Catholics, trusted the Church to do something about this man.” (Page 467)
“In a statement [...] Bishop Murray stated that he was very aware that if he had derived “more information from the various interviews I conducted, it might have been possible to prevent some of the dreadful suffering of child abuse. I very much
wish that I had been able to do so. It is a matter of the greatest regret to me that I did not manage at that time to get to the root of the problem”. No attempt was made by Bishop Murray to revisit these concerns even after he became aware of Fr Naughton‟s abusive behaviour in Donnycarney and Ringsend.” (Page 457)
“[Fr Naughton] said that the bishop [Donal Murray] had told him that it was nothing to worry about and that “cranks often make allegations”. (Page 458)
“The parishioner stated that she also tried to talk to Bishop Murray when she was attending a confirmation service in 1984 but that “he dismissed me and pretended he didn‟t hear me, and walked away”. (Page 456)
“Despite the fact that he was the area bishop and was in touch with the priest on a regular basis between March 1993 and the time of his appointment as bishop of Limerick in February 1996, Bishop Murray failed to put a proper system in place.” (Page 512)
The Irish Times reports today: “Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray was among the former auxiliary bishops who dealt “badly” with allegations of child sex abuse in the Dublin diocese”, and concludes: “He will have very serious questions to answer over the coming days.”