Paul KeenanCriticism of appointment is slammed
The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has been accused of “a lack of learning” for criticising the appointment of Judge Yvonne Murphy to lead the forthcoming official probe into mother and baby homes.
Reacting to a July 18 statement from the group, abuse survivor and current member of the Pontifical Council for Safeguarding Minors, Marie Collins said the ACP was once again putting the reputations of clerics ahead of the suffering endured by children.
Personal capacity
Speaking in a personal capacity, Mrs Collins said the ACP statement was “just the old clerical mind-set from the perspective of protecting the reputation of the priest. It shows a lack of learning.
“At this stage it’s sad that priests in Ireland should be concerned with reputation,” she added. “The problems of the past came from trying to protect the good name of the priest.”
Mrs Collins then restated an assertion she first made in 2013 when the ACP issued its own critical re-examination of the Murphy Report: “The priority has to be the protection of children above all other considerations. Reputation can never be more important than child safety.”
Warning
In its statement, the ACP again cited its re-examination of the Murphy Report in warning that appointing Judge Murphy risked “making the same mistakes twice, when people’s characters and reputations are at stake” and, suggesting that Government should consider its own report ahead of setting terms of reference for the forthcoming inquiry, restated its accusation of “serious failings of the Murphy Commission” in terms of clerics’ reputations as it investigated the mishandling of abuse cases by the Dublin archdiocese.
“I won’t accept that,” Mrs Collins responded on the issue of mistakes, pointing to the fact that the Murphy report had been fully accepted in Ireland, not least by the hierarchy.
“Murphy was accepted by the bishops,” she said. “They [the ACP] should too and move on.”
