Irish bishop says working for ‘truth, healing and peace’ after news program on abusive predecessor

LEICESTER, United Kingdom – Irish Bishop Michael Duignan said he was committed to “working with anybody affected to help bring truth, healing and peace to such terribly painful situations” after news reports on the legacy of Bishop Eamonn Casey appeared in newspapers and television on Sunday.

Casey, who died in 2017, was accused of sexual impropriety in the 1990s, and in 2019 it was reported the bishop had faced at least three accusations of sexual abuse before his death.

Ian Elliott, he former chief safeguarding officer for the Catholic Church in Ireland, told the RTÉ radio station, in association with the Irish Mail on Sunday newspaper, that Casey was “a sexual predator.”

The RTÉ documentary, called Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets, said the Diocese of Limerick paid over €100,000 in settlement to one of his accusers after the bishop’s death.

The documentary noted that despite his resignation as Bishop of Galway in 1992, Casey remained an official bishop until he died and claimed his removal from ministry was unjust.

The Vatican confirmed to RTÉ that by 2006, Casey had been requested not to publicly exercise the ministry” and that this was “reiterated formally” a year later after the Church received several allegations against him.

However, Casey’s Buried Secrets reported the bishop ignored the ban, and celebrated public Mass in several parishes across the country.

The most serious claim made by the RTÉ documentary was from Patricia Donovan, Casey’s niece, who told the television program she was repeatedly raped by her uncle from the age of five.

“Some of the things he did to me, and where he did them. The horror of being raped by him when I was five, the violence. And it just carried on in that vein,” she said.

“He had no fear of being caught. He thought he could do what he liked, when he liked, how he liked,” she added.

“He was almost, like, incensed that I would dare fight against him, that I would dare try and hurt him, I would dare try and stop him. It didn’t make any difference,” Donovan continued.

Elliot told Casey’s Buried Secrets the “fact of the matter” is that individuals have come forward and spoken about numerous sexual activities, some consensual, others not.

“Many involved very young people,” he said.

“That is wrong and there is no justification for that, and it should have been stopped. Those that have been distressed and hurt should be helped and supported by the Church. That is a major priority,” Elliot added.

Duignan, the current Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora, issued a statement on Monday saying he was “deeply aware that the content of recent media coverage concerning the life and legacy of Bishop Eamonn Casey is a source of anger and profound distress to many people, and in different ways.”

“I share these feelings. My priority is that any person who was betrayed or harmed by Bishop Casey is heard and that their experiences are appropriately acknowledged and recognised,” he said.

“The Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora adheres to all current procedures for responding to allegations concerning the safeguarding of children as governed by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland,” he continued.

“Diocesan safeguarding personnel, along with the Bishop, are available to provide pastoral care and support.  Counselling is also available through the independent professional support organisation Towards Healing,” Duignan said.

“I remain committed to working with anybody affected to help bring truth, healing and peace to such terribly painful situations,” the bishop said.

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