The Ferns Report

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The Ferns Inquiry (2005) was an official Irish government inquiry into the allegations of clerical sexual abuse in the Irish Catholic Diocese of Ferns. The Inquiry recorded its revulsion at the extent, severity and duration of the child sexual abuse perpetrated on children by priests acting under the aegis of the Diocese of Ferns. The investigation was established in the wake of the broadcast of a BBC Television documentary "Suing the Pope", which highlighted the case of Fr Sean Fortune, one of the most notorious clerical sexual offenders. The film followed Colm O'Gorman^[1]as he investigated the story of how Fortune was allowed to abuse him and countless other teenage boys. O'Gorman, through One in Four, the organisation he founded to support women and men who have experienced sexual violence, successfully campaigned for the Ferns Inquiry.

"The Ferns Report was presented to the Irish government on 25 October 2005 and released the following day. It identified more than 100 allegations of child sexual abuse made between 1962 and 2002 against twenty-one priests operating under the aegis of the Diocese of Ferns. Eleven of these individuals were alive in 2002. The nature of the response by the Church authorities in the Diocese of Ferns to allegations of child sexual abuse by priests operating under the aegis of the diocese had varied over the forty years to 2002.

Between 1960 and 1980, the Report found that Bishop Herlihy treated child sexual abuse by priests of his diocese exclusively as a moral problem. He transferred priests against whom allegations had been made, to a different post or a different diocese for a period of time but then returned them to their former position. By 1980, Bishop Herlihy recognised that there was a psychologicial or medical dimension to the issue of child sexual abuse. Some priests in respect of whom allegations had been made were sent to a psychologist. However, decisions by Bishop Herlihy to appoint to curacies priests against whom allegations had been made and in respect of whom a respected clerical psychologist had expressed his concerns in unambiguous terms as to their suitability to interact with young people.

1 Findings
2 Perpetrators
3 Micheál Ledwith
4 James Doyle
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Findings

Appointments by Bishop Donal J. Herlihy of priests to curacies against whom allegations had been made and in respect of whom a respected clinical psychologist had expressed his concerns in unambiguous terms as to their suitability to interact with young people was wholly inappropriate and totally inexplicable. Herlihy did not meet victims though financial assistance had been offered.

In NO case did Bishop Brendan Comiskey persuade or compel a priest, against whom allegations been made and in respect of whom information was or should have been known to him, to stand aside from his priestly ministry between 1984 and 2002 (10 alive; 4 deceased). When Comiskey did institute enquiries following allegations made to him these were protracted and inconclusive and in all cases failed to meet the standard of proof required by Comiskey not did he report incidents or allegations of child sexual abuse before 1995 to the civil authorities.

The handling of complaints of child sexual abuse against 8 priests to the Garda Siochana was wholly inadequate.

The Church authorities and society generally failed to appreciate the horrendous damage which the sexual abuse of children can and does cause. A culture of secrecy and fear of causing scandal seemed to determine the episcopal response to child sexual abuse.

[edit] Perpetrators

Multiple allegations of abuse were made against the following priests (those still alive have not been identify in the The Ferns Report):

Fr Donal Collins, transferred from St Peter's College in Wexford to London in 1966 but returned to the College in 1968
Fr James Doyle, ordination postponed in 1973 but Doyle was ordained one year later.

These three are deceased:

Fr James Grennan, sexually molested girls in Monageer church, County Wexford while he heard their confessions
Canon Martin Clancy, molested his female victim in her own home
Fr Seán Fortune, the most vicious, relentless serial predator of them all

[edit] Micheál Ledwith

Monsignor Michael Ledwith, abruptly abandoned position of President of St Patrick's College Maynooth. He now teaches a new-age religion in Yelm WA

The Trustees of the College, 17 bishops, appointed Ledwith President of the College in 1984 on the nomination of the Dr Brendan Comiskey then Bishop of the Diocese of Ferns. Ledwith was later created Monsignor and appointed to the International Theological Commission, a high-level body created by the Vatican in 1969 to advise on theological issues.

These appointments were made despite profound and sustained concerns of six seminarians at that time about Ledwith's extravagant lifestyle and the nature of his relationship with young seminarians. This issue was first raised by the then Senior Dean at the College, Dr Gerard McGinnity whose appointment at the College was subsequently abruptly terminated by the Trustees following a cursory investigation by Dr Eamon Casey. Casey was Bishop of Galway until his own abrupt departure following the disclosure of his relationship with his lover of 18 years Annie Murphy.

Ledwith resigned from office in 1994 following allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a minor. He was laicised by the Church in 2005, eleven years later. Ledwith has been teaching new-age religion in the United States since his departure from Maynooth.

The Report of the Inquiry elaborates on this case history.

[edit] James Doyle

James Doyle was a Roman Catholic priest attached to the Diocese of Ferns, Ireland until he was dismissed from the priesthood in December 2004, 30 years after his ordination and a 1990 conviction of indecent assault.

He was a curate attached to Clonard parish between 1979 and 1990. He pleaded guilty in 1990 to a charge of indecent assault on a minor and received a 3-month sentence which was suspended on condition that he remained away from the parish of Clonard for this period.

Several of Doyle's episodes of sexual abuse of young boys are cited in The Ferns Report. These began in 1972 before he was ordained a priest. A prefect of St. Peter's College Wexford reported an assault on a boy in the boarding school. Doyle's ordination, due in 1973, was postponed for a year. The President of St Peter's in 1974 was a recent appointee and he did not refer to Doyle's file when recommending him for ordination in May 1974 despite the fact that this file, which was available to The Ferns Inquiry almost 20 years later, contained details of the abuse incident.

Doyle served in a parish in Belfast between 1974 and 1979. One episode of abuse during this time emerged in 2001 and is being processed by the authorities in Northern Ireland.

While Doyle was a curate at Clonard allegations were made about an attempted assault by him on a young male hitch-hiker in his car. Doyle was advised to seek medical treatment for alcohol abuse. Separate allegations were made concerning Doyle in 1980 committing acts of indecent assault on young altar boys but there was insufficient evidence to prefer charges. Bishop Donal Herlihy arranged for Doyle to have psychiatric treatment. When a new parish priest was appointed to Clonard parish in 1985 he was not made aware of Doyle's case history.

Monsignor Professor Feichin Doherty, a psychologist, who treated Doyle in 1982 informed Bishop Herlihy that "Doyle has a history of auto-eroticism and homo- and heterosexual behaviour. These problems were manifest during his seminary years, but passed unnoticed. As far as one can see, he did not face up to celibacy in any realistic sense. It would also seem desirable that he should have a change of role, away from working with young people.". This advice was not acted on by Herlihy or his successor, Brendan Comiskey. In the early 1990s Fr Doyle sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy in the home, and was discovered doing so by the boy's father. The father discussed the assault with Bishop Comiskey, the matter was reported to the Garda Síochána, and Fr Doyle was charged and convicted of indecent assault.

He settled a civil action with the boy's parents and moved to London. He returned to Ireland, where he worked in Dublin at a half-way house for adults. However, the Archbishop of Dublin Desmond Cardinal Connell withdrew priestly facilities from him.

Doyle was charged on August 14, 2006 with 35 counts of indecent assault under S62 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. 34 of these charges relate to one person when he was aged between 8 and 13; two of which are alleged to have taken place at Forth Mountain, Wexford between April 1981 and April 1986; 16 of which are alleged to have occurred at Clonard church between April 1981 and April 1986 and the remaining 16 charges are alleged to have occurred at a residential address between April 1981 and July 1986. The 35th charge of indecent assault relates to a second person on a date unknown between September 1, 1981 and April 1986. These charges are based on information that became available in 2003, having been made known to Bishop Eamon Walsh, Apostolic Administrator of Ferns (2002 - 2005) and cited in The Ferns Report.

Doyle was remanded on his personal bail of €200 to appear at Wexford Circuit Court in October 2006.