Sunday, August 21, 2011

Why is Magee being protected?

Almost six weeks after the publication of the devastating report of his mishandling of abuse allegations against priests of his diocese, John Magee, the former Bishop of Cloyne, has yet to face the public to provide an explanation of, or to apologise for, his misbehaviour.

Instead, the former secretary to not one but three Popes is playing what amounts to a game of hide and seek as he seeks to avoid not just the media but, more importantly, the abuse victims who were denied justice when he protected their abusers with his failure to follow church guidelines for dealing with reports of abuse.

After spending some time abroad, Bishop Magee recently returned to Ireland. Given the widespread public interest in the Cloyne case it is inconceivable that he could do so without the support of many within the Catholic Church. 

It is only the Catholic Church that could provide him with the protection he would require to stay out of public view. 

Why is the church, or at the very least significant elements within it, still protecting the disgraced bishop?

Is it that the Catholic Church still places the protection of its own clergy above the protection of vulnerable children by paedophile priests?