Rome appoints senior figure to oversee Irish Order of Malta

A delegate of the headquarters of the Order of Malta in Rome has been appointed to oversee the running of the Irish arm of the association, following a recent child abuse controversy.

A senior figure in the international order, FJ McCarthy, has been appointed as a “magistral delegate” to oversee the running of the Irish arm of the Order of Malta.

In a July 23rd letter to members of the Irish association, Mr McCarthy said Rome had “identified certain problems within the association”, which he had been tasked with helping to resolve.

Mr McCarthy said he would work with the president and council of the organisation “to put in place new structures and to help improve existing structures to better ensure long term stability, viability and growth of your association”.

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Child protection standards in the Order of Malta have been under scrutiny recently after two former ambulance corps volunteers were jailed over the sexual abuse of two 15-year-old boys. At the conclusion of that criminal case in May the organisation commissioned an internal review into the case and wider standards, which is ongoing.

The Irish Times previously reported that two complaints had been made to the organisation about the main perpetrator allegedly sexually assaulting young men in the ambulance corps, prior to him abusing the two 15-year-olds in 2018. The internal review is to examine how those previous complaints were handled.

Further internal documentation has also raised concerns over how the organisation handled a previous allegation another volunteer had tied up and sexually abused a teenager around 2010. An internal investigation into the actions of the volunteer was stood down at the time after the alleged victim became nervous about proceeding with the formal process.

The Irish association of the order, which has about160 members, is responsible for governing the wider organisation and its ambulance corps of 2,500 first-aid volunteers. Its council, effectively the organisation’s board, has been grappling with the fallout of the abuse controversy in recent months.

In his letter, seen by The Irish Times, Mr McCarthy said that elections to select a new council in October would now be postponed.

‘New recommendations’

He said he proposed delaying the upcoming elections “because of changes emanating from the Irish Charity Regulator and charity trustees and their training”. He said he would “spend some time appraising myself of those new recommendations” and as such said new elections would not take place before next June.

“In the meantime it is very important that the work of the Order in Ireland continues in the fullest possible way and I will be working with your president and council to ensure that there are no interruptions and it will be business as usual”, he wrote.

Mr McCarthy, who works in the real estate sector in New York, has been involved in advising the Irish council over recent months. The move from Rome to appoint him as a magistral delegate signifies growing concern with the Irish arm of the order.

The decree from headquarters in Rome stated the delegate would remain in place to oversee the Irish association for as long as necessary to “re-establish the orderly running” of the organisation.

In a separate letter, president of the Irish order Richard Duc de Stacpoole said the association wanted to assure Mr McCarthy “of our co-operation and assistance”. The appointment would help the “long term stability of the association and our several charitable initiatives and objectives,” he wrote