On March 9th 2010 I tendered my resignation as Bishop of Cloyne to the Holy Father. I have been informed today that it has been accepted, and as I depart, I want to offer once again my sincere apologies to any person who has been abused by any priest of the Diocese of Cloyne during my time as bishop or at any time. To those whom I have failed in any way, or through any omission of mine have made suffer, I beg forgiveness and pardon. As I said on Christmas Eve 2008 after the publication report of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, I take full responsibility for the criticism of our management of issues contained in that report.
On March 7th 2009 the Holy See appointed Most Rev. Dermot Clifford as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Cloyne. This was in response to a request I had made to be relieved of the burden of administering the Diocese so that I could concentrate on co-operating with the Government Commission of Investigation into child protection procedures in the Diocese in my capacity as Bishop of Cloyne. I will of course continue to be available to the Commission of Investigation at any time.
I also sincerely hope that the work and the findings of the Commission of Investigation will be of some help towards healing for those who have been abused.
I welcome the fact that my offer of resignation has been accepted, and I thank
the priests, religious and faithful of the Diocese for their support during
my time as Bishop of Cloyne, and assure them of a place in my prayers always.
ENDS
Fr. Jim Killeen 087 2053938
Cloyne Diocesan Centre
Cobh
cloyne@indigo.ie
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. Bishop Magee does not wish to give interviews at this time.
2. Bishop Magee's biographical details may be accessed at www.cloynediocese.ie
3. Please see below text of statements made by Bishop Magee on Christmas Eve
2008 and on March 7th 2009 when the Apostolic Administrator was appointed.
4. The Diocese of Cloyne will continue to be governed by the Apostolic Administrator,
Most Rev. Dermot Clifford, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly.
Message from Bishop Magee at Midnight Mass, Christmas 2008.
I want to briefly address you this evening prior to this special midnight Mass. You will be well aware of the publication of the recent Report into the management of child sexual abuse issues in this Diocese. I fully accept this Report and all its findings and I take full responsibility for the criticism of our management of some issues contained in this report. We made errors, not intentionally, and I want to assure you that such errors will not be made again in this diocese.
I am taking full personal responsibility for the implementation of all recommendations made in this NBSC Report - a process which is well in train. In the future we will have a clerical environment which is as safe as it possibly can be for the children of this diocese. We have, I can assure you, been working to create such an environment but clearly this report highlighted the need for changes, which have been addressed or will be addressed in the immediate future.
I have already contacted the National Board for Safeguarding Children, outlining the steps this diocese has taken and is continuing to take to implement the recommendations of this recent NBSC Report. I will give account to the people of this Diocese for all of the work that has been undertaken on this critically important issue early in the New Year.
I again want to sincerely apologise to all victims of clerical sexual abuse and particularly to those who were abused by priests in the Diocese. There can be and there will be no place in the Church or indeed in wider society for persons who abuse children. For a priest to abuse a child is a massive breach of trust and I am determined to ensure that it extremely unlikely that this will happen again in this Diocese.
Again, my sincere apologies to victims of abuse by the priests of the diocese - and finally can I urge any person who has been abused or has concerns about child protection to contact the Gardai, the HSE or the Diocese.
STATEMENT BY BISHOP JOHN MAGEE AT 6PM MASS ON SATURDAY 7TH MARCH IN ST. COLMAN'S
CATHEDRAL, COBH
At midnight Mass last Christmas, following on the recommendations of the report on the handling of clerical sexual abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne, I assured you, the people of the Diocese, that early in the New Year I would give an account to you of all the work that has been undertaken on this critically important issue. I wish to address this crucially important matter with you again to-day.
Since that time, significant developments have taken place. A number of meetings have been held involving the Diocese, the National Board for Safeguarding Children, the Gardaí, and the HSE to review both current allegations and general communications between all of these agencies. Training for child protection representatives in each parish of the Diocese is ongoing. We are also revising our procedures and structures to make sure they are in line with the new national guidelines published during this past week.
You may be aware that on January 7th last the government decided to ask the Commission of Investigation into the Dublin Archdiocese to carry out an examination of the operation of practices and policies in relation to child protection in this Diocese. At that time I stated I would give every possible cooperation to the Commission in carrying out its task.
This, I came to realise, will entail quite an amount of work for me and so, last week, I asked the Diocesan Vicars Forane to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation in their respective Deaneries this year, and I want to wish all the children and families involved in Confirmation this year God's blessing.
I am conscious of the fact that, as I have to give so much of my time and energy to the task ahead, conducting the normal administration of the Diocese, in all its aspects, would prove to be very difficult. Therefore, as you may have heard from media reports earlier today, on February 4th last I requested the Holy See to appoint an Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese. The Apostolic Nuncio announced today that the Holy Father has acceded to my request and has appointed Archbishop Dermot Clifford as Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Cloyne. This means that the governance of the Diocese has now been transferred to Archbishop Clifford and that he has been given all the powers and duties of the Bishop of Cloyne. I retain the title of Bishop of Cloyne and I will dedicate my full time to the matter of the Inquiry. I shall certainly give Archbishop Clifford every support and assistance and shall keep him in my daily Masses and prayers. I ask you to do likewise. I am grateful to the Holy Father for the appointment of Archbishop Dermot Clifford as Apostolic Administrator of Cloyne.
I ask you to join with me as we continue to remember in our prayers any persons who have been so wrongly abused by priests of this Diocese.
+John Magee
Bishop of Cloyne