The Irish Times
Monday, June 28, 2010
BARRY ROCHE Southern Correspondent
A WOMAN who made a complaint of sexual abuse against a priest has called for a change in church guidelines on child protection after a cleric responsible for protecting children in the diocese of Cloyne resigned after passing on details of her allegations to the accused man.
The woman said she took no solace from the resignation of Fr Bill Bermingham as designated person for safeguarding children in Cloyne. There was an urgent need to review the guidelines which allowed him to inform the accused priest of her complaint.
Fr Bermingham announced on Saturday that he asked to be relieved of his role in safeguarding children in Cloyne after it became clear to him that he did not enjoy the confidence of victims of child sexual abuse over his handling of the woman’s case.
Fr Bermingham’s decision to step down came just 24 hours after he had defended his actions.
He had passed a copy of notes he had taken during a meeting with the woman to the priest she had accused of abusing her in the 1980s, when she was just 13 years old.
“From the recent media coverage of a case involving an allegation of child sexual abuse made against a priest of the diocese of Cloyne, it is clear that my handling of the particular case has caused further distress to the complainant,” said Fr Bermingham in a statement.
“It is vital that any person occupying the role of designated officer/delegate within the church should have the complete confidence of victims of child sexual abuse and of persons wishing to report abuse. This is an absolute value.”
Fr Bermingham said his handling of the case had, despite his best intentions, served to undermine that confidence and for that reason and in the interests of the church’s policy for safeguarding children, he had asked to be relieved of his child protection role.
Archbishop Dermot Clifford, who is administrating the Cloyne diocese, said he had accepted Fr Bermingham’s resignation.
He thanked him for his efforts in seeking to rebuild trust with people who have been harmed by priests in the diocese.
However, the woman at the centre of the controversy said Fr Bermingham had said in an earlier statement that he believed that his actions in giving details of her allegations to the accused man “were consistent with both State and church guidelines”.
“Fr Bermingham said that he gave his notes of my complaint to the priest because it was his entitlement under the guidelines. If the guidelines can allow him to do that, then the guidelines need to be changed so that something like that doesn’t ever happen again.
“The church’s entire position on child protection is an absolute farce and will remain so as long you have guidelines that are open to individual interpretation, where someone can go and alert an accused person before they can be interviewed by the gardaí.”
The woman said she was incredulous that the State would allow such guidelines to operate where a priest accused of child sex abuse could effectively be forewarned before gardaí could interview them.
“I don’t know of any circumstances where somebody is told in advance of what they are accused before the gardaí have a chance to question them. That entitlement has to be removed from the guidelines if they are to have any credibility,” she said.
“I mean, why should this priest or any priest get this special privilege of being informed in advance of what they’re accused of? No one else being investigated by the gardaí gets that sort of treatment. Why should a priest be told in advance what to expect?”
_____________________________
Relief for victims as priest quits child safety role
Irish Independent
Monday June 28 2010
By Olivia Kelleher
CLERICAL abuse campaigners and victims have welcomed a decision by a priest to quit as a diocesan child protection delegate.
Fr Bill Bermingham stepped down from his role in the Diocese of Cloyne in Cork after controversy over his handling of a case involving an allegation of sexual abuse against a priest in the diocese.
Fr Bermingham was criticised for making the allegations available to the priest concerned. A woman had accused the priest of abusing her as a young child two decades previously, and had spoken with Fr Bermingham. It is understood that a number of other priests also saw the statement.
John Kelly, a representative of Survivors of Child Abuse, told the Irish Independent yesterday that he welcomed Fr Bermingham’s resignation but was disturbed by his actions in his post.
“I welcome the fact that he has resigned but there are a lot of questions to be answered,” Mr Kelly said. “You would have to question how competent he was and how competent those who appointed him were.
Ineptitude
“The church hasn’t learned anything. There has to be radical reform. The bishops cannot be trusted to deal with child abuse cases. It is just ineptitude. Anything they do right, they have to be dragged screaming into it.”
The One in Four organisation has also described the episode as a horrific betrayal by the Cloyne diocese.
Fr Bermingham was appointed in 2008 after the National Board for Safeguarding Children CEO Ian Elliott accused former Bishop of Cloyne John Magee of pursuing “inadequate and, in some respects, dangerous” protection policies, which put children at risk in schools and the community.
At the time, the appointment was welcomed as a sign of a new regime in Cloyne.
But in a statement over the weekend, Fr Bermingham said the way he handled the matter “caused further distress to the complainant”.
He stressed that it was vital that anyone occupying the role of designated officer/delegate in the church should have the complete confidence of victims of child sex abuse and of persons wishing to report abuse, and tendered his resignation. He had earlier defended his actions.
Father John McCarthy is to act on a temporary basis in the role of Designated Person on behalf of the diocese.
- Olivia Kelleher
Irish Independent
_____________________________
Irish diocese’s victim advocate resigns amid cover-up allegations
Catholic.Culture.org
28 June 2010
Father Bill Bermingham resigned from his position as Designated Person for the Safeguarding of Children in the Diocese of Cloyne on June 25 after it was reported he had told an accused priest about an abuse allegation before he told the police.
Father Bermingham said that he had informed the police immediately about the abuse complaint, the accused priest had been removed from pastoral duty, and some time had then elapsed before he met with the priest to discuss the accusation. He said that he was unaware the police were preparing to question the accused priest at that time. However he admitted that his actions had caused distress to the man who made the complaint, and resigned for that reason.
“I wish to thank Father Bermingham for the unstinting and selfless commitment which he has given to this role on behalf of the diocese during a very painful period,” said Archbishop Dermot Clifford, the diocese’s apostolic administrator. “I have been witness to the integrity of Father Bermingham’s motivation in seeking to rebuild trust with people who have been harmed by priests of the diocese and, to help in their healing. The safeguarding of children in Church ministry has been his consistent priority and concern.”