'This has brought us to our knees': Jesuits and the sex abuse cover-up at Belvedere College

It could hardly be put better, or more accurately, than it is by the Jesuits themselves. "It is clear that, from 1964, there was knowledge on the part of the Jesuit provincial of the physical and emotional abuse of boys by Joseph Marmion. From September 1977, at least, there was knowledge on the part of the Jesuit provincial of the sexual abuse of boys by Joseph Marmion in Belvedere."

So it is stated in "Joseph Marmion. The Jesuit Response", circulated this month to men who, as boys, attended Dublin's Belvedere College, where they were abused by former teacher Fr Joseph Marmion, who died in 2000.

Described as "a record of shameful and criminal behaviour on Joseph Marmion's part and inadequate and negligent responses on ours", the response was prepared between March and June this year by a team of Jesuits led by provincial Fr Leonard Moloney to address matters arising from the order's handling of abuse allegations against Fr Marmion.

It said: "There seems to have been no thought of informing the parents of the boys. There seems to have been no thought of telling the Garda authorities, although the actions of Joseph Marmion constituted criminal behaviour within the school and outside – in Vienna. Pastoral care and accompaniment were not offered to the victims of the abuse or to their families, and the abuser, while spoken to in regard to what he had done, was required to face no criminal consequences, either under State law or Church law, but was (eventually, not immediately, alas) removed from the school, sent to Paris on a sabbatical and, on his return, incomprehensibly assigned to new work over the next 20 years."

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Somewhat rhetorically, it then poses the questions: “Why was the criminality of Joseph Marmion’s behaviour disregarded? Why were the children neglected? Why did the institution look only to its own protection?”

The answer is provided earlier in the response itself. Fr Noel Barber was headmaster at Belvedere College in September 1977 when sexual abuse allegations against Fr Marmion were brought to his attention.

He interviewed Fr Marmion and “six or seven boys”, before reaching “the appalling realisation he had gained already from their earlier conversation, that Joseph Marmion had used the boys for his own sexual gratification”.

However, “Fr Barber does not believe that he created notes of the interviews with the boys, and no such notes exist. Fr Barber believed that each of the boys was telling the truth of their experiences,” said the response.

Fr Barber brought the matter "to the attention of the college authorities in order that they would deal with it". These included then rector at Belvedere Fr Paul Andrews and Jesuit provincial (head in Ireland) Fr Paddy Doyle. It was decided Fr Marmion, who denied all allegations, would leave Belvedere nine months later at the end of that academic year, in June 1978, though with a diminished role in the college opera beforehand.

Despite accepting the allegations’ credibility, according to the response, Fr Barber, Fr Andrews and Fr Doyle were most concerned “that what had happened ought not to become known. He [Fr Barber] believed he was acting in the interests of the institution in protecting it from scandal. The question of reporting the matter to the gardaí did not arise in any conversation at that time.”

It continued: “Fr Barber does not believe that he spoke to the parents of those boys whom he had interviewed. He now recognises that this was a very significant omission which could have served to deprive boys of the parental support they would have needed in the context of their abusive experiences. He deeply regrets that this was so.”

It is also clear from the response that Belvedere’s board of management was not informed of the allegations, when it was told later that Fr Marmion was leaving the school.

Such outcomes have been found before in the Catholic Church, including the stark finding of the 2009 Murphy Commission's report on the handling of clerical child sexual abuse allegations in Dublin's Catholic Archdiocese.

It was 'in or about the year 2001' before the Jesuits set up its own child protection committee, five years after the bishops had recommended that all religious orders in Ireland do so

It found that the archdiocese’s pre-occupation at least until the mid-1990s, was “the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the church, and the preservation of its assets”.

All other considerations, including the welfare of children, were subordinated by the Jesuits, too. In 1996 – nearly 20 years after credible allegations were made – he could, and should have been removed from ministry. But he was not.

The Jesuits now accept that they ignored the Irish Catholic Bishops’ 1996 child protection guidelines, including one requiring that “in all instances” where abuse is known or suspected that the matter is reported to the civil authorities.

Nor was there any indication that any consideration was given in 1996 to reporting the matter even decades afterwards, though it is possible that this failure lay in the fact that the records kept held “little detail”.

Consequently, Fr Marmion stayed as chaplain in St Vincent's Private Hospital, though Fr Laurence Murphy, who was Jesuit provincial until 1998, now "accepts" that he should have been removed.

It was "in or about the year 2001", according to the response, before the Jesuits set up its own child protection committee, five years after the bishops had recommended that all religious orders in Ireland do so.

In 2002, Fr Barber received correspondence from “Oisin” (pseudonym), one of the boys he had interviewed at Belvedere in 1977 about the Fr Marmion allegations, while other former pupils, “Fionn”, and “Senan” (pseudonyms) did so as well.

On September 25th, 2002, and 25 years after they first received those sexual allegations they believed to be true against the then deceased Fr Marmion, the Jesuits contacted gardaí.

In a letter to the gardaí from Jesuit child protection delegate, Fr John Humphreys wrote that the matter had been investigated at the time by the Jesuit authorities and Fr Marmion was removed from his teaching post.

True, but not the whole truth.

Past pupil Tom Doorley published his book, where he wrote about a former teacher there; 'a bully, a sadist, a brilliant teacher, a highly talented man, an active paedophile'

The letter continued that Fr Marmion “subsequently took sabbatical leave for a year and did not return to any of our schools or to ministry to minors. Instead, he worked in the area of adult education while based in the Jesuit Community at St Francis Xavier’s Church, Gardiner Street, Dublin 1. He was also part-time chaplain at St Vincent’s Private Hospital.”

This does not take into account, as acknowledged elsewhere, that children were among patients at the hospital.

The letter continued: "This case was brought to our attention again recently and our understanding is that it may not have been reported to the relevant authorities at the time." In 2004, journalist and Belvedere past pupil Tom Doorley published his book, Muck and Merlot, where he wrote about a former teacher there; "a bully, a sadist, a brilliant teacher, a highly talented man, he was also an active paedophile." The teacher was not named.

In an extract from his book published in the response, Mr Doorley recalled about this teacher that “every year he produced a Strauss operetta” and how “this remarkable Jesuit insisted on measuring the members of the junior chorus for their costumes: Individually, stark naked, and in the privacy of his own room. Favoured pupils were taken on a summer trip to Vienna where accounts vary as to what kind of sexual assaults took place. I don’t think there was a boy in the school who was unaware of what this charismatic monster was getting up to; I have no doubt that many of his fellow Jesuits knew, too.”

The Jesuit authorities met to decide what to do about the book, with Fr Humphreys meeting Fr Barber again to discuss the 1977 allegations and others made in Mr Dooley’s book.

A draft press release was prepared: “With respect of allegations of abuse we are very concerned that any person might have been abused by a Jesuit in one of our schools or anywhere else. We would want to reach out to any such person and assist them in any way possible. We have a delegate for child protection and he would be most anxious to meet any such person who would wish to meet us. This would be done in a confidential manner, in a spirit of openness and genuine concern.”

Ruairi asked that the Jesuits write a letter to The Irish Times and the Irish Independent admitting that Fr Marmion sexually molested children at Belvedere College

It also said: “Regarding the case in question we have been in contact with the Author [Mr Doorley] in recent weeks.” That meeting did not take place. As the response put it, “It was agreed that [then provincial] Fr Dardis would contact Tom Doorley through an intermediary. In the event the intermediary did not feel that a meeting would be appropriate and none took place.”

The press release was never published.

It was 15 years later, 2019, before there were any further significant developments. On January 25th that year, “Ruairi” wrote to the Jesuit safeguarding office detailing his abuse and identifying questions he had for the society. His allegations were reported to Tusla a month later.

On February 27th, 2019, Ruairi asked that the Jesuits write a letter to The Irish Times and the Irish Independent admitting: that Fr Marmion sexually molested children at Belvedere College; that these criminal acts were known to his colleagues and superiors at the time; that despite his known offences he was transferred and kept in ministry as a Jesuit priest until his death; that they name all places where he had served; that all allegations made against him since 1980 be made known; and that the Jesuits express a wish to hear from anyone who attended Belvedere College during relevant years and who was molested in any way by Fr Marmion.

The Jesuits declined to do so.

However, and as it is put in the response, “Following extensive communications with Ruairi over the following 18 months and having reflected deeply upon the matter, [Jesuit provincial] Fr Leonard Moloney decided that a public statement should be made. The formal consultation process regarding the content of that statement was commenced in early February 2021.”

Thirteen allegations of sexual abuse against children have been made, while 19 former pupils say they suffered physical and emotional abuse, along with 10 other complaints

On February 27th, 2021, Mr Doorley wrote at length in the Irish Daily Mail about the immense harm caused by Fr Marmion without identifying him by name. Four days later, on March 2nd, 2021, the Jesuits issued a lengthy statement on “former teacher and priest, Joseph Marmion SJ”, saying he had abused boys sexually, emotionally and physically in Belvedere.

It said: “This action is being taken following engagement with a former pupil who was himself abused, in the hope that others who may have suffered would come forward and get the support they may need.”

Since that statement was published, 42 complaints against Fr Marmion have been made, but not just in Belvedere, but in Clongowes Wood College in Kildare, and Crescent College Comprehensive in Limerick, where he also taught.

Thirteen allegations of sexual abuse against children have been made, while 19 former pupils say they suffered physical and emotional abuse, along with 10 other complaints. There are others who have not yet lodged complaints.

One ex-pupil says the Jesuits knew of Fr Marmion’s sexual abuse in 1973, under the seal of Confession, which presented them with a choice “to honour the confessional seal or act to protect children,” the response said.

'This has brought us to our knees. What happened is a gross contradiction of everything we seek to stand for and everything we have wanted to accomplish in our schools'

Sometime last year, former Jesuit provincial Fr Murphy told colleagues he had been contacted “some years ago” by a former Belvedere past pupil, identified as “Rian”, alleging abuse by Fr Marmion.

“He told Fr Murphy that he had informed him in 1974 or 1975 of this abuse, which had happened some years earlier. Rian was not sure if he had made this disclosure under the seal of Confession,” the Jesuit document goes on.

“Fr Murphy believes Rian when he states that a conversation took place but he has no memory of it. If the conversation took place under the seal of Confession Fr Murphy would not be entitled to acknowledge that it had taken place, even if it remained in his memory,” it reads.

The response “acknowledged that disclosures could have been made by schoolboys to members of the society within a confessional setting. It is never possible for a priest who is the confessor in such a context to reveal the content of what has been disclosed.”

Nearing the end of the document, the Jesuits are abject, if belatedly so: “This has brought us to our knees. We want you to know that what happened is a gross contradiction of everything we seek to stand for and everything we have wanted to accomplish in our schools for you and for all our students. We want to say that we are truly mortified by what you have endured and we desire to make amends, even at this very late stage.”