Sean Brady Steps Down

[orangeman]

One for the archives ET. Brilliant stuff. Should be published in a national newspaper! First time I have commented on this thread as people know my thoughts on Fearon and his previous rants. But I have to congratulate you. Superb.

+1 

I'll second that. Brilliant stuff there that gave me a few laugh out loud moments (particularly liked that Francie jibe  )

+1

Brilliant stuff.

[orangeman]

My favourite line -

Peter (pacing up and down) "Shut it Tony" (TF continues to drone on, like a fat bluebottle battering a window).

[T Fearon]

Shane, that's a bit profound! Still totally inaccurate though. I'm not averse to a bit of humour at my expense but I'm afraid Easytiger's efforts are right up there with Hardy's Patsy from Forkhill in terms of being totally devoid of humour.

The real psychological questions should be posed to those who resort to personal insult.In any argument it's a sure sign you've beaten your opponents when they resort to this, knowing full well that their own arguments are invalid.

[Hardy]

[Lar Naparka]

I started this thread because I felt there was nothing to be gained by continuing with the previous one. That was just a case of Tony vs The rest  and it would remain so long after it had served any useful purpose.
I hoped we would move on to discuss what happens next now that he has stepped down.
I believe that John B Brady was only a very small fish in a very big pond.
Later on, when Fr. John B morphed into Bishop Sean  and ultimately Cardinal Sean, he was as guilty as any other prelate of the church.
Between the lot of the, theory operated a nationwide protection to keep the activities of clerics in their midst hidden from public view and by their tacit acceptance, they encouraged the likes of Brendan Smyth to continue abusing without fear of the consequences.
I'm entertain that many of his peers were sorry to see Sean Brady go. Now the fear for each of them is that he will be the next one to be asked to account for his actions.
Going by the story in today's Sindo, there was a hell of a lot of covering up and a lot of church authorities involved.

Here's the report.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/church-paid-up-to-50m-in-wake-of-sean-brady-revelations-30585232.html

Church paid 'up to €50m' in wake of Sean Brady revelations

Rush to settle 300 cases in which Cardinal was named as defendant
The Catholic Church is believed to have paid out up to €50m in compensation to abuse victims since former Cardinal Sean Brady's direct involvement in the swearing to secrecy of two of the victims of the paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth was revealed by the Sunday Independent.


Senior legal sources said there was a rush to settle the bulk of up to 300 High Court cases in which Brady was nominally named as lead defendant on behalf of the Church.

Many of the cases had been before the court for more than a decade - some for up to 16 years - as the Church stonewalled the plaintiffs.

The case that exposed Brady's direct involvement, where he was the "note-taker" in a case involving the boys raped by Smyth, had been before the High Court for 13 years.

However, Since Brady's involvement came to light in March 2010, a considerable number of the cases that had been before the courts for years have been reported on official records as ending with "no orders made in this case".

Legal sources say this is the usual sign that a case has been settled out of court. Such settlements are also usually contingent on the plaintiffs accepting confidentiality clauses, legally preventing them from speaking publicly about their abuse.

One senior legal source involved in some of the cases said it was likely the total amount in settlements was between "€40m to €50m".

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In cases of "serious" abuse, individual settlements of up to and over €250,000 have been made, but most compensation payments are thought to be below this figure.

Many are known to have been in the €100,000 region. All the cases were outside the State compensation scheme known as the Redress Board.

Forty-three of the cases citing Brady as defendant also named as co-defendant Sister Helena O'Donoghue, Provincial of the Religious Sisters of Mercy. Both were sued in a representative capacity. There is no suggestion that Sister O'Donoghue ever attempted to swear any victims to secrecy. These cases, involving 32 females and 11 males, are understood to relate mainly to the Goldenbridge and other orphanages run by the Order. All are recorded as being settled with "no orders" by the High Court. Most of these had been before the court for more than a decade.

The Sunday Independent's 2010 story about Brady's involvement in the case in which two boys were sworn to secrecy in 1975 attracted international attention as Brady was the first Catholic cardinal to be directly linked to such actions.

The case had major repercussions in many countries, particularly those where victims had been afraid and slow in coming forward. The massive publicity given to the Brady case prompted a landslide of revelations and further claims against the Church.

It subsequently emerged that the swearing of victims to secrecy was widely used throughout the world by the Catholic hierarchy.

Brady, who retired last week, never felt any official repercussions other than the widespread calls for his resignation in 2010 - which he and the Church ignored.

There was relatively little criticism raised last week over his role in the investigation of the Smyth abuse and the subsequent stonewalling of the victims' claims. RTE reported that "it was under his watch that the Catholic Church in Ireland reappraised its responsibilities".

Brady was also thanked for his "love and dedication" by the incoming Cardinal Eamon Martin who said he would be assured "of our continued affection and prayers".

The former Cardinal was never interviewed by gardai in relation to the church's handling of the Smyth abuse. He was also able to benefit from the fact that the State had abolished the old criminal offence which made failure to report a serious offence a crime, known as misprision of felony. This was abolished in 1997 just around the same time one of Smyth's victims, Brendan Boland, finally made his complaint to gardai. If the case had been made known to gardai in 1975 it could have prevented Smyth from raping and molesting dozens more victims over the following years before his arrest by the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 1994 for offences in Northern Ireland. He died aged 70 in prison in 1997.

Brendan Boland, who as a 14-year-old boy was sworn to secrecy about his abuse at the hands of Brendan Smyth, last week was one of the few voices critical of the outgoing Cardinal.

He said that since the publication of his book Sworn to Silence on July 12, a dozen people have contacted him "via various channels" to speak of their abuse.

Mr Boland told the Sunday Independent: "Of the 12, five are victims of Brendan Smyth, three of whom have never spoken about the abuse before now. Four of the 12 are victims of other priests. Three are victims of sexual abuse in the home. All have thanked me for writing the book as they feel it has in some way given them a voice, and the impetus to seek help."

Mr Boland added: "It appears as though he's just retiring naturally as if he's done nothing wrong. I feel let down again. They're attempting to save face again. They've failed to acknowledge the mishandling of the information that I gave them back in 1975, which is the names and addresses of five or six other children that I knew were being abused. They failed to act on that."

A spokesman for the Catholic Church said there would be no comment from the ex-Cardinal or his nominated successor Archbishop Eamon Martin in realtion to the compensation payments. He pointed to Brady's remarks in announcing his retirement when he said: "Pope Francis' motto: 'Miserando atque eligendo', challenges and inspires me with its message of God having mercy and at the same time choosing us, despite our sinfulness. It reminds me that I too need to say sorry and to ask forgiveness. And I do so again, now. At the same time, Pope Francis' motto inspires me to trust in the mercy of God and to pray for the strength to do always as Jesus would have me do."

Sunday Independent

[muppet]

To those who see no point to furthering this discussion, there is a point. Watching the depths to which Tony is willing to descen,d to try to persuade everyone else to see the victims as the abusers, and the abusers as the victims, is well worth the exercise. It is a real education.

Really? A real education to whom?

As a premise - anyone who has been on this board long enough knows I'm the polar opposite to Tony in almost everything - from the field to religion.

However, I find it a bit distasteful the personal attacks.

For me, it's like goading someone with dyslexia or some other learning disability. Challenge his ethos initially, certainly, but leave it at that. The penny should drop. He's not that important and he's not a bad fellow. I don't know how many posters there are on here but he's 1 voice who many on here seem to place massive importance to.

Try to understand the person and their reasons for processing historical events rather than poking fun at. And when you understand it, leave it at that.

Easytiger's bit is brilliant and I know Tony would find it funny too.

This is a bizarre post.

I agree ET's post is brilliant.

Regarding my comment on 'education', it is an education. I believe that is why so many posters read and post on this thread. They, like it or not, are fascinated with the blind intransigence of a fundamentalist Catholic, who will argue with everyone, and blame everyone, except his seriously flawed hero.

But what is bizarre is that my comment regarding it being an education is somehow a worse personal attack than either ET's great piece or your own 'For me, it's like goading someone with dyslexia or some other learning disability'. If you thought I was 'poking fun' then I think you may have misunderstood me. I was not poking fun, I was deadly serious. The child abuse scandal is about the biggest story on this island since partition. It is always worth hearing the other side of an argument and even better if it is taken to it's extreme limits. I genuinely see that as an education.

[T Fearon]

I would believe the Protestant Telegraph before the anti Catholic Sindo.But thanks for confirming what I suspected all along.This is largely about the Compo.

[muppet]

I would believe the Protestant Telegraph before the anti Catholic Sindo.But thanks for confirming what I suspected all along.This is largely about the Compo.

That has certainly been the Church's focus.

[T Fearon]

Which reinforces my previous point.

[Zip Code]

So not only do you advocate the facilitators of child abuse, but now you are saying those directly affected by such abuse should not receive any justice whatsoever from those who inflicted the abuse upon them?

[muppet]

Which reinforces my previous point.

Was that point about their covering everything up to avoid paying compensation?

[T Fearon]

No.I am always amazed how money can wash away or "settle" every grievance.

On another point you seem to spend every waking hour researching facts or more correctly unsubstantiated allegations re clerical child abuse.Why? What's the fascination?

[orangeman]

Where's the compo coming from ?. Does anyone know ?.

[Zip Code]

No.I am always amazed how money can wash away or "settle" every grievance.

Unfortunately when the abused can't get their hands on the abuser and kick seven shades of shite out of the cnut as in the case of your fellow parishioner Gerald McQuillan, or when the abuser is dead, the only thing open to receive justice is compensation from the facilitators of the abuse, the Catholic Church in these cases. Are you saying that the abused don't deserve justice?

And the bit in bold is a direct question, but no doubt you won't answer it.

[bennydorano]

Beating the living shite out of Clergy is generally frowned upon, so I suppose monetary recompense is the most sensible way to settle a grievance, but shure it gives you an opportunity to mudsling and muddy waters - and it must be pretty clear to even you by now, nobody is buying what you're selling.