Murphy report

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The Murphy Report is a communiqué setting out the outcome of the public inquiry in Ireland into sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin , chaired by Judge Yvonne Murphy. It was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and published on November 26, 2009. He rocked the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland .

overview

The report found that four former bishops systematically protected members of the Church who had been accused of sexually abusing children . It was released a few months after the Ryan report by a child abuse investigation commission investigating abuse in commercial schools controlled by Catholic orders. Both investigations deal with the abuse scandal of the Catholic Church in Ireland, which caused a sensation worldwide, and led, among other things, to the resignation of some bishops and exacerbated the crisis of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

Focus: Avoiding further scandals

The 720-page report was commissioned by the Irish government to investigate the way the Church dealt with allegations of child sexual abuse by priests between 1975 and 2004.

The report indicated that the Archdiocese of Dublin, in dealing with cases of sexual abuse of children, at least until the mid-1990s, used secrecy, avoiding scandals, protecting the good name of the Church and protecting their property from the protection of the people Children as well as before the crime was solved. All other aspects, including the well-being of the children and justice for the victims, had been subordinated to these priorities. The archbishopric had acted according to its own rules and did everything possible to avoid an explanation by the judiciary. The report notes that there is "no doubt that child sexual abuse was covered up from 1975 to 2004," and shows how complaints from parents and their children were ignored, putting other families at risk . The prelate John Charles McQuaid suppressed the scandals. The church relied on church law to protect the perpetrators at the expense of the innocent children. The vast majority of the unaffected priests turned a blind eye to the deeds.

Investigations and Prosecution

Before 1995 it was only sporadically determined. In 2002, after a television reportage reported nine cases of abuse by priests in the Diocese of Dublin, more extensive police investigations began. On September 18, 2006, an article in the Irish Independent described that the 4-year police investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin had been covered up. It had failed to gather sufficient evidence to bring charges against influential members within the hierarchy . "Despite evidence that priests have been transferred to other parishes where they have committed further abuse, and despite public statements by high-ranking figures that not all relevant information has been given to the civil authorities, no charges will be brought against leading members of the Church." Victims are quoted as saying that the state of the investigation by the Irish police, the Garda Síochána , should be fully examined by the Commission. "We are very concerned that given the (limited) resources made available to the police when the investigation began four years ago, no substantial results are to be expected," said Colm O'Gorman, director of victim support Association.

The publication of the report in November 2009

On October 15, 2009, the High Court ruled that the report could be published except for Chapter 19, which contains material from three other cases. The report explains how the Catholic Church handled allegations of sexual abuse against a sample of 46 priests between January 1, 1975 and April 30, 2004.

The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin , assisted the commission of inquiry by releasing thousands of confidential documents.

The report was published on November 26, 2009. It consists of three volumes and cost a total of € 3.6 million. The investigative commission found a number of 320 abused victims between 1975 and 2004 and a further 120 as of May 2004. The four Archbishops, John Charles McQuaid , Dermot Ryan , Kevin McNamara and Desmond Connell, were aware of the allegations. Yet they hardly followed up on complaints. One of the priests confessed to attacks on more than 100 children. Another confessed to regular bi-weekly abuse for 25 years. Another died without a confession in 2002, saying before he died that he had done nothing wrong. Together with the clergy, the police are held responsible for the scandal, as even higher police officers left the clergy untouched.

Cloyne Report

On December 23, 2010, another report ( The Cloyne report ) of the Murphy Commission on the conditions in the Diocese of Cloyne was handed over to Justice Minister Dermot Ahern , which includes the handling of allegations of sexual abuse by clerics in the period between January 1996 and February 2009 . The report was published in 2011.

Public reactions

Cardinal Connell, the last living of the four archbishops at the time, said he "regrets bitterly in every form that mistakes on my part contributed to the suffering of the victims."

"Through acts or omissions of individuals, the responses and protection of people seeking help have not always been appropriate and not as any citizen can expect," said Ireland Police Commander Fachtna Murphy. He added that he was very sorry.

The government of Ireland said they wanted to do justice to the victims. Justice Minister Dermot Ahern promised that "the conviction of those who committed these horrific crimes, regardless of when they occurred, should continue to be sought".

Well-known writer John Boyne addressed the crime in his 2014 novel The Story of Loneliness .

See also

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b The Murphy Report . ( Memento from June 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Die Tagespost , December 10, 2009.
  2. ↑ Ireland's Catholics muck out. Der Spiegel , December 17, 2009.
  3. ↑ Irish bishops offer resignation on Christmas Eve. Der Spiegel, December 25, 2009.
  4. ^ Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin
  5. ↑ Dearbhail McDonald: Abuse probe grinds to halt . In: Irish Independent , September 18, 2006. 
  6. ^ Court orders partial release of Dublin child abuse report , Mary Carolan, The Irish Times , October 15, 2009
  7. ^ Pope leaves two Irish bishops in office , accessed August 15, 2010
  8. ↑ Edited report on Dublin abuse cleared for release , The Irish Times , November 20, 2009
  9. ^ Dublin clergy covered up child abuse . In: The Washington Times , November 26, 2009. 
  10. ↑ Abuse 'covered up' by Dublin Archdiocese . In: RTÉ News and Current Affairs , November 26, 2009. 
  11. ^ Irish Catholic Church covered up child abuse, report says . In: CNN International , November 26, 2009. 
  12. ^ Henry McDonald: Irish church and police covered up child sex abuse, says report . In: The Guardian , November 26, 2009. 
  13. ↑ Read in WP Andrews opposed to extension of abuse inquiry , The Irish Times , December 24, 2010
  14. ^ Lyall, Sarah: Report Says Irish Bishops and Police Hid Abuse , The New York Times . November 26, 2009. 
  15. ↑ John Boyne, "The Story of Solitude." Novel. Piper, Munich 2015, ISBN 3492060145