Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
IN THE HOMILY given by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin at the funeral of Cardinal Desmond Connell today, Martin credited Connell as being the church figure who “began to drag out information” around abuse allegations inside the Catholic Church.
Martin said that it was “not enough” to make the comment that Connell was slow to recognise the extent of the problem of child sexual abuse when he was Archbishop of Dublin.
He added that Connell marked the beginning of a “new culture” within the diocese by establishing a child protection service.
Martin said:
Cardinal Connell became an Archbishop at a difficult time in this diocese. Many comments in these days noted that he was slow to recognise the extent of child sexual abuse by priests. It is not enough to make that comment now from a distance.
“It must be said that he found himself surrounded by a culture and at times by advisors who were slow and perhaps even unwilling to recognise both the extent of the problem and the enormous hurt that had been done to children, a hurt they still carry with them.
It is also true that it was Cardinal Connell who was the one who finally began to realise the extent of the abuse and the extent of the damage done to children and, with difficulty, began to drag out information which some were still reluctant to share.
Desmond Connell was appointed Archbishop of Dublin by the Holy See in 1988 and made a Cardinal-Priest by Pope John Paul II in 2001.
He was the subject of criticism for the way he handled allegations of child sexual abuse and formally resigned as Archbishop of Dublin in April 2004, when he was replaced by Diarmuid Martin.
The Murphy report, published in 2009, found that Connell’s refusal to admit liability often added to the grief and pain felt by victims of abuse.
The authors of the report said they also had little doubt that clerical child abuse was covered up by the Archdiocese of Dublin, and other church authorities.
He died earlier this week, aged 90, after a long illness.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
He put the institution before the victims every step of the way. Any concessions or movement from the church came when public opinion itself became a threat to the institution. Even their public pronouncements could not be trusted as they protected themselves with lawyers and gave as little as they could get away with. I know you have to come up with something at a guy’s funeral but we all know the story here and it’s shameful. Let’s be honest about it.
@Simeon: And in addition, the state gave a bailout to religious orders by paying compensation to victims of the orders’ past abuse – on the understanding that the orders would pay half of the amount (in buildings and money).
The orders committed to pay around 400 million, but have failed to pay this to the state. The state made a huge mistake by not getting a legal commitment for half of whatever the final bill would be and, shockingly, it is now just about 1.5 BILLION. That has been paid by all of us via the state, and yet the orders have not even reimbursed the state very much of the original 400 million they agreed to pay – never mind half of 1.5 billion.
Many of these same orders are currently being funded by the state to deliver our education system, and we as a state have been re-building schools buildings for them to the tune of additional billions – buildings that remain their asset. Yet we are told as non-Catholics to build our own schools as the schools belong to the church. We are told divestment is just slow and will take time. Meanwhile, nearly 100% of our state schools remain in the control of religious groups, ethos wise, while we pay for them all, and continue to be allowed to discriminate in favour of their own. You could not make it up.
The government has said it is still committed
@Simeon: You would have to wonder why we allow this institution to continue to control our state education system and our health services – for example our new National Maternity Hospital being built in a new location by the state at such great expense will still, unbelievably, have the archbishop as automatic chairperson.
Right, let’s rewrite history with an entirely different interpretation of what happened.
So it was the CHURCH that “who finally began to realise the extent of the abuse and the extent of the damage done to children and, with difficulty, began to drag out information which some were still reluctant to share”
Right…………….. Guess all those reports that revealed the details with little cooperation from the Church had NOTHING to do with it!
FFS!
This is wrong, I know we don’t speak ill of the dead in this country but this is wrong.
I will. He was leader of an organisation that carried out some of the worst atrocities done to children in this country. Dead or not he did little to stop the abuse, he did little to stop further abuse, he did little to help authorities investigate the abuse, he did little more than help spread the abusers around the country and to other parts of the world. Finally, even after all the investigations and reports, when the church were told to financially offer up cash to victims they still did do it. What’s even worse, at the time of his death the church, of which he was a leadership figure, still did not offer to pay up even close to half the sum!
There are few people outside of dictators that can be regarded as having such a detrimental effect on an entire country. If there actually is a god, I can imagine God would have some very hard questions for which the Cardinal would ultimately fail.
Financially didn’t do it ^
May god be his judge.
@Mairtin Cathbhar: That’s like saying “Karma will get him in the end”. Another nonsense platitude.
He should not be having his reputation restored in death because that’s the only “punishment” he ever, and now that he is dead, will ever receive.
@Mel Fitzpatrick: I never really got this “not speaking ill of the dead”, if a person was an a**hole in life, why shouldn’t that be highlighted even if their dead?
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: *they’re even
It the truth and it must be said whether he is alive or dead – he covered up !
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: So the person who has passed loved ones do not have to listen to a tirade of abuse about the person they have just lost – compassion shown when nothing is served by being vindictive
@Larissa I never understood it either
I sincerely doubt that the archbishop’s loved ones are reading the Journal, Brian
It’s not vindictive. It’s factual and accurate to say all these things. It’s further important that we as a society openly recognise and hold him to account, alive and dead, so that we don’t find ourselves in the same position again.
Ah here all he did was the absolute minimum expected now hes a hero.We’re supposed to believe this was all a surprise to him when took up the position
Yes the joke of the century
Realised the abuse was too much to cover more like.
But damned if he wasn’t going to try…
…And did everything in his significant power to continue to coverup. Stop the bullshit eulogising of bad people. Connell was an accessory and facilitator.
Expect nothing more from a bunch of men in dresses who believe in fairytales.
He began to drag out information? It was more the case that information had to be dragged out of him. As it does out of all these men in drag.
It’s one way of pitching it but not a credible way of pitching it.
I remember that O’Connell’s first action was to lend money to an abusing priest so as to pay off compensation to a victim motivated by a hush, hush.
Undoubtedly O’Connell knew that there was a clerical child sex abuse problem but he may not have known the full extent if it. He certainly under estimated , as did his tame spokesman, Ronan Mullins, the willingness of the victims to speak up.
Not good enough….and he was also part of a conclave that elected an ex Hitler Youth member as pope, a man who covered up paedophilia worldwide and who hid known paedophiles in the vatican eg the archbishop of Boston
Couldn’t care less about voting for someone who was in Hitler youth as a child – all the cover up and obfuscation was all his own doing, and they’ve been responsible for worse global torture atrocities than any Hitler youth member ever did.
He introduced us to the term “mental reservation” .
They only came forward with weasly excuses which had to be wrung out of them. The ordinary people were always only regarded as shi@t on their shoe
No loss….
May he rest in peace. His legacy however, that is a different story all together.
And for how long before did he lie about it. Institutionalised to the core. But still, he was good to many others. RIP
If in doubt about this headline check out Mea Maxima Culpa.
Within is a clip of an interview where Connell is asked when Fr Tony Walsh, one of Ireland’s most prolific paedophiles, (Connell was his superior and undoubtedly aware of the complaints.) was allowed to prey, unhindered, on children in the archdiocese for two decades why Connell did not contact the victims and encourage them to contact an Gardai.
His response, with a little arrogant smirk thrown in for good measure was: “Oh, I suppose I should have done but I have so much to do.”
Wrong!
I hope he is wrotting in his version of hell.
Allowed the physical and mental abuse of the most vulnerable in society… Good riddance
90 years old so it’s true what they say (the good die young)
According to the churches teachings,will he go to Heaven or Hell?
@John Killeen: Oh I’m sure he”repented” and was given absolution meaning (as per his churches rules) he’ll fly straight up through the pearly gates.
There is only one unforgivable sin. Denying the Holy Spirit. Do that and you’re screwed!
Burn them both at the stake
Hmmmm.
Shut up, everything is out there now as that is called history?
Hello
May he rest in peace!
Just let it go Irish, Archbishop Martin was doing the right thing. He came to bury ‘Caesar’ not to praise him. Unkind comments condemning the Cardinal’s eternal rest are far worse than acts ascribed to him.
One of the oldest mafia type organisations there is. He was covering up pedophiles among them till the very last moment he could get away with it.
Coglan’s law. Bury the dead as they stink up the joint.
@Imnotrodten: Now there is a blast from the past!
Coglan’s law. A blast for the past is better than a blast from yer ass.
I realised my house was on fire today, but didn’t call the fire brigade
He could hardly ignore what happened no matter how hard he tried
have your say