Scope[edit]
The Inquiry was set up by the Government of Ireland to identify complaints and allegations made
against clergy of the Diocese of Ferns prior to April 2002, and to report upon the response of Church
and Civil Authorities.[1] The Inquiry did not concern itself with the truth or otherwise of the complaints
and allegations made, but entirely with the response to those allegations. [2] The Inquiry recorded its
revulsion at the extent, severity and duration of the child sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated on
children by priests acting under the aegis of the Diocese of Ferns.[3] The investigation was
established in the wake of the broadcast of a BBC Television documentary Suing the Pope, which
highlighted the case of Fr Seán Fortune, one of the most notorious clerical sexual offenders. The film
followed Colm O'Gorman as he investigated the story of how Fortune was allowed to abuse him and
countless other teenage boys.[4] O'Gorman, through One in Four, the organisation he founded to
support women and men who have experienced sexual violence, successfully campaigned for the
Ferns Inquiry.
The Ferns Report was presented to the Irish government on 25 October 2005 and released the
following day. It identified more than 100 allegations of child sexual abuse made between 1962 and
2002 against twenty-one priests operating under the aegis of the Diocese of Ferns. Eleven of these
individuals were alive in 2002. The nature of the response by the Church authorities in the Diocese
of Ferns to allegations of child sexual abuse by priests operating under the aegis of the diocese had
varied over the forty years to 2002.
Findings[edit]
Among the facts revealed were:
The failure of Bishop Donal Herlihy to exclude clearly unsuitable candidates from the
priesthood and his failure to ensure that alleged abusers were kept away from children;
His failure to report incidents of alleged sexual abuse to the legal authorities [2]
The failure of his successor, Brendan Comiskey, to report incidents of abuse and his failure
to establish sound child protection measures;[5] From 1990 onward he reported all allegations
made by children to the authorities.[6]
The adoption of strict policies of immediate removal of any clergy subject to allegations by
his successor, Bishop Eamon Walsh.[5]
Police failure to properly investigate sexual abuse complaints prior to 1990. [7]
Among the allegations made were:
The sexual touching of teenage girls near the altar of a church by one priest; [8]
The use of blackmail by another priest to force children to perform sex acts on him;
Most allegations did not involve rape, but a range of sexual assaults from inappropriate
touching to masturbation.[9]
Multiple allegations of abuse were made against the following priests (those still alive have not been
identified in the Ferns Report):
Fr Donal Collins, transferred from St Peter's College in Wexford to London in 1966 but
returned to the College in 1968
Fr James Doyle, ordination postponed in 1973, after a first allegation of drunken assault, but
Doyle was ordained one year later.[10]
These three are deceased:
Fr James Grennan, sexually molested girls in Monageer church, County Wexford while he
heard confession
Canon Martin Clancy, molested his female victim in her own home
Fr Seán Fortune ministered in the village of Poulfour in Co. Wexford, in Belfast and
in Dundalk. Allegations of abuse were made against him in all three places. [11]
Bishop Comiskey[edit]
The Inquiry contacted the mother of a young woman who said that Bishop Éamonn Walsh who,
as Apostolic Administrator, assumed control of the Ferns Diocese (following Comiskey's resignation)
became aware of an 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 Connell, Cardinal 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.
The Inquiry was informed by Comiskey that, although he agreed to step aside from active ministry
when this allegation was first made known to church authorities, he had returned to ministry but
agreed to refrain from high-profile acts of ministry. As of 2007, he is residing in Inniskeen, County
Monaghan.
Micheál Ledwith[edit]
Comiskey nominated his diocesan colleague, Monsignor Micheál Ledwith to be president of St.
Patrick's College, Maynooth in 1984 despite the prior concerns of six seminarians about Ledwith's
alleged homosexual orientation. Later allegations of sexual abuse of a minor became known after
Ledwith resigned as president in 1994; he was defrocked by the Church 11 years afterwards.
Jim Grennan[edit]
This was also seen in other cases, such as that of Jim Grennan, a parish priest, who abused
children as they prepared for First Communion, and Sean Fortune, who committed suicide before his
trial for the rape of children.[12]
Judgement and recommendation[edit]
Between 1960 and 1980, the Report found that Bishop Herlihy treated child sexual abuse by priests
of his diocese exclusively as a moral problem. He transferred priests against whom allegations had
been made, to a different post or a different diocese for a period of time but then returned them to
their former position.
By 1980, Bishop Herlihy recognised that there was a psychological or medical dimension to the
issue of child sexual abuse. Some priests in respect of whom allegations had been made were sent
to a psychologist.
However, decisions were made by Bishop Herlihy to appoint to curacies priests against whom
allegations had been made, in respect of whom a respected clerical psychologist had expressed his
concerns in unambiguous terms as to their suitability to interact with young people.
The report was also highly critical of the failure of the Garda Síochána (police) to properly investigate
reported incidents. It noted with concern the disappearance of one police file detailing serious
incidents of clerical sex abuse. It stated that the local health authorities failed to protect children
even when aware of allegations.
As a result of a late application, a further inspection of files from July 2005 revealed a further five
cases of concern, which were mentioned in the report's appendix. [13] This raised concern about the
diocese's willingness to disclose relevant files.
Process and Publication of the Report[edit]
An initial report was made to the government in 2002 by George Bermingham SC. A non-statutory
private inquiry was then established in March 2003 by Micheál Martin as Minister for Health and
Children, comprising three persons: Francis Murphy, a retired Supreme Court Judge; Dr Helen
Buckley, a sociology lecturer at Trinity College Dublin; and Dr Laraine Joyce of the office of health
management, a part of the Ministry for Health and Children. [14]
The report was published in October 2005, noting the anonymity of victims and alleged abusers, and
highlighting that in the Ministry's opinion: no evidence was placed before the Inquiry suggesting the
operation or the organisation of a paedophile ring in the Diocese of Ferns or any clerical institution
within that Diocese. The report cost just under €1.9 million.[15]
The Report was considered to be more robust that the Church's own McCullough Report, released
earlier in 2005, which covered one aspect concerning allegations about Michael Ledwith. The
main Dáil debate on the Ferns Report was in two parts on 9 November 2005. [16] The Irish
Senate debate started on 10 November. [17]
Press Comment[edit]
According to reports in the Irish press, the report itself was not to be published on the Internet for
legal reasons.[18] A document claimed to be the text of the Report is, however, online, on the website
of an organisation called [Link]., [19] and also on the website of an organisation
called [Link].[20]
See also[edit]
Abuse
Child abuse
Child sexual abuse
Religious abuse
Sexual abuse
Sexual misconduct
Spiritual abuse
Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Ireland
Brendan Comiskey ss cc, former Bishop of Ferns
Roman Catholic sex abuse cases
Roman Catholic priests accused of sex offences
Crimen sollicitationis
Pontifical Secret
Deliver Us from Evil
Sex Crimes and the Vatican (Panorama Documentary Episode)
Barbara Blaine founder of SNAP (Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests)
References