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Brady defiant over sex 'cover-up' Cardinal resists calls to resign
(1 day later)
The Catholic church's most senior cleric in Ireland has rejected calls to resign over claims he helped cover up sex abuse investigations in the 1970s. The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland says he will only resign over claims he helped cover up sex abuse if he is asked to do so by the Pope.
Cardinal Sean Brady, primate of all-Ireland, admitted he was present at meetings where two abused teenagers were made to sign vows of silence. Cardinal Sean Brady was at meetings in the 1970s where two abused teenagers signed vows of silence over their complaints against Fr Brendan Smyth.
The meetings followed complaints of abuse against Fr Brendan Smyth, jailed in the 1990s for serial child abuse. Fr Smyth was a notorious sex offender jailed in the 1990s for child abuse.
"Frankly I don't believe that this is a resigning matter," the cardinal said. "There was no cover up, I believed those people. I brought what I heard to the bishop," Cardinal Brady said.
Cardinal Brady said he had been following church orders and that there were no guidelines for him to follow. The complaints of abuse were investigated by Cardinal Brady in his capacity as secretary to the bishop of Kilmore in 1975.
'Cover-up' Cardinal Brady said he had been following his bishop's orders and there were no guidelines for dealing with such investigations at that time.
Fr Smyth was a notorious child sex offender who was believed to have abused at least 20 children over a 40 year period in the north and south of Ireland. "Now I know with hindsight that I should have done more. I thought at that time I was doing what I was required to do, and not just that, but most effectively. I acted with great urgency to get that evidence and produce it.
He was eventually convicted and jailed for more than 90 offences. Child sex abuse is a very serious crime and very grave and if I found myself in a situation where I was aware that my failure to act had allowed or meant that other children were abused, well then, I think I would resign Cardinal Sean Brady, December 2009
"I believed in doing so, I was following the most effective route to get this stopped. That is my concern and always was - the safety of children."
He said his actions were part of a process that removed the shamed cleric's licence to act as a priest.
He said he did not believe this was a resigning matter.
However, in an interview with Irish broadcaster RTE last December, the cardinal said he, himself, would resign if he found that a child had been abused as a result of any managerial failure on his part.
"I would remember that child sex abuse is a very serious crime and very grave and if I found myself in a situation where I was aware that my failure to act had allowed or meant that other children were abused, well then, I think I would resign," he said.
At that time, the cardinal apologised on behalf of the Church after an Irish government report revealed abuse over decades, a systematic cover-up by the Church and a lack of action by Irish police.
He said: "No-one is above the law in this country.
"Every Catholic should comply fully with their obligations to the civil law and co-operate with the Gardai (Irish police) in the reporting and investigation of any crime."
He said children's welfare was now a priority for the Church.
Pope Benedict has had to deal with sex abuse scandals in various countries
Father Smyth was a notorious child sex offender who was believed to have abused at least 20 children over a 40 year period in the north and south of Ireland.
He was eventually convicted and jailed for more than 90 offences, many of them committed after the Brady meetings.
However campaigners believe the cleric could have abused hundreds of children as he was moved around parishes, diocese and countries by the church.However campaigners believe the cleric could have abused hundreds of children as he was moved around parishes, diocese and countries by the church.
They have accused Cardinal Brady of reckless endangerment and demanded his resignation.They have accused Cardinal Brady of reckless endangerment and demanded his resignation.
I insist again I did act, and act effectively, in that inquiry to produce the grounds for removing Fr Smyth from ministry Cardinal Sean Brady A campaigner for victims of clerical child abuse in Ireland, Colm O'Gorman, said Cardinal Brady should resign.
A campaigner for victims of clerical child abuse in Ireland, Colm O'Gorman, said Cardinal Brady should resign following the admission that he had represented the church at the meetings where children were forced to take a vow of silence about their abuse. FROM BBC WORLD SERVICE class="" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/index.shtml">More from BBC World Service
Mr O'Gorman said: "He believed that this out of control paedophile [Smyth] had abused children and he did nothing to report this crime to the police either then, or it would appear, at any point over the next 20 years during which Smyth continued to rape and abuse in parishes across the world with near impunity. "He believed that this out of control paedophile [Smyth] had abused children and he did nothing to report this crime to the police either then, or it would appear, at any point over the next 20 years during which Smyth continued to rape and abuse in parishes across the world with near impunity," Mr O'Gorman said.
"Instead he took part in a cover-up of Smyth's crimes and swore his child victims to secrecy," he said."Instead he took part in a cover-up of Smyth's crimes and swore his child victims to secrecy," he said.
"Cardinal Sean Brady is now deeply personally implicated in the gross failures of the Catholic Church in the management of Smyth and his rampant sexual offending against children. And on that basis and given his statement of December 2009 he must resign." "At 36 years of age he (Cardinal Brady) was no fresh-faced seminarian, fresh out of college, he was a professor, a teacher and a canon lawyer."
'Acted effectively' The revelations come as the Catholic Church worldwide grapples with accusations that it covered up abuse by priests.
The complaints of abuse by the two teenagers were investigated by Cardinal Brady in his capacity as secretary to the bishop of Kilmore in 1975. In recent months paedophile scandals have rocked the church in Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany.
Cardinal Brady said he had been following his bishop's orders and there were no guidelines for dealing with such investigations at that time. The Vatican recently denounced attempts to link Pope Benedict XVI to a child abuse scandal in his native Germany.
The senior churchman defended his role in the 1975 investigation, stating his actions were part of a process that removed the shamed cleric's licence to act as a priest. Spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said there had been "aggressive" efforts to involve the Pope, but added: "It's clear that these attempts have failed."
"Even today the appropriate person to do that is the designated person - I was not that person," he said. The Pope's former diocese earlier said he once unwittingly approved housing for a priest accused of child abuse.
"But I insist again I did act, and act effectively, in that inquiry to produce the grounds for removing Fr Smyth from ministry and specifically it was underlined that he was not to hear confessions and that was very important. The episode dates back to 1980 when he was archbishop of Munich and Freising, and known as Joseph Ratzinger.
"The responsibility for his behaviour as a priest rested with his religious superior in Kilnacrott."