Fr Vincent Twomey, former professor of moral theology at St Patrick's seminary in Maynooth, has said he expected the report of the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation to be "horrifying . . . much worse than Ferns" where the Catholic Church was concerned. He said also that Irish Catholic priests "have to learn a thing called courage".
Fr Twomey was speaking in the context of the general silence of most Dublin priests following Cardinal Desmond Connell's High Court action to prevent the commission having access to 5,586 documents over which he has claimed legal privelege. Fr Twomey expressed "shock that this should have happened at all".
The commission is investigating how the archdiocese handled allegations of clerical child abuse between January 1st, 1975, and May 1st, 2004.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1's Spirit Moves programme last night, he felt "the central weakness of the Irish church has been the unquestioning acceptance of everything" and that "there are a lot of careerists in the church . . . If you speak out, you are finished. The religious life just stressed blind obedience. It didn't stress your conscience."
Television producer and columnist Mary Raftery said the silence indicated "a shocking moral vacuum at the heart of the clergy and hierarchy in this country". She continued that "justice transcends loyalty to any institution" and that what the cardinal was attempting was "an outrageous thing to have done".
Andrew Madden, who was abused by a Dublin priest, said he had successfully e-mailed 172 priests in the archdiocese last week, canvassing their views on whether the cardinal should waive privilege if he is successful in his legal action. Only 31 priests (18 per cent of the total) replied, of which 21 (12 per cent) said the cardinal should waive privilege. Two said "no", with eight giving an "other" response.
Deputy editor of the Irish Catholic Michael Kelly said the cardinal's action posed serious questions. "The church needs to co-operate with the inquiry and to be seen to co-operate," he said.
David Quinn, columnist and director of the Iona Institute, a Catholic think-tank, said that "on balance he [the cardinal] is probably wrong." Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1's This Week programme yesterday, he said he had yet to come across anyone who was sympathetic to what the cardinal was doing. On that programme also, abuse victim Marie Collins accused the cardinal of hindering the commission in its efforts.
A survey for Newstalk Radio, conducted on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, found that of 91 Dublin parish priests who responded, 45 per cent believed the cardinal was wrong to take this legal action, 25 per cent believed he was right and 30 per cent didn't know. Asked if the church's image had been damaged by the court case, 74 per cent said yes, 20 per cent said no and 6 per cent didn't know. All 200 parish priests in the archdiocese were contacted - 118 responded, 27 refused comment.