Click here for the address given by Cardinal Seán Brady to the congregation at morning Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh on Saturday 20 March 2010:

Fr Quinn was interviewed by the police regarding these allegations and denied them.

The day following the police interview, Cardinal Brady suspended Fr Joseph Quinn from ministry as a priest, forbidding him to say Mass publicly, to hear confessions and to have unsupervised access to minors.

Following the police investigation, the Director of Public Prosecutions considered the evidence and directed that Fr Joseph Quinn be tried on only one of the allegations.

The priest was tried in a public trial, before a Judge and Jury, at Omagh Crown Court and was acquitted.

Following Fr Quinn’s acquittal, Cardinal Brady met him again and reinforced that Fr Quinn remained suspended on the same terms, in spite of having been acquitted by the Court.

After that acquittal the complainant on behalf of whom no prosecution had been brought sought compensation for her injuries from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board and, separately, from Fr Quinn and from Cardinal Brady.

The complainant and Fr Quinn subsequently settled the case between themselves.

The complainant withdrew her proceedings against Cardinal Brady and her proceedings before the Compensation Board.

Cardinal Brady was not involved in the discussions between the complainant and Fr Quinn other than to make it clear that he would not be a party to any confidentiality agreement between Fr Quinn and the complainant, that he intended to commence a canonical process against Fr Quinn and to invite the complainant to assist as a witness by giving evidence in that canonical process.

The complainant agreed to give evidence in the canonical process against Fr Quinn and has, in fact, done so.

Father Quinn remains suspended from ministry as a priest.

Cardinal Brady has forbidden Father Quinn from wearing clerical attire.

Cardinal Brady met the father of the complainant in the early stages, following her original complaint to the police, and also arranged for his representative, Fr Bradley, to meet the complainant and her parents.  Cardinal Brady also met her father recently.

The complainant has been offered pastoral support and help, including independent counselling.

Further information:
Martin Long, Director of Communications (086 172 7678)

Ireland and its people have much to be proud of.

Yet every land and its people have moments of shame.

Dealing with the failures of our past, as a country, as a Church, or as an individual is never easy. Our struggle to heal the wounds of decades of violence, injury and painful memory in Northern Ireland are more than ample evidence of this.

There is always tension between the possibilities we aspire to and our wounded memories and past mistakes.

Saint Patrick, our national Apostle, our patron Saint, knew this tension throughout his life. Even as he brought the joy and life of the Gospel to the Irish people, he was haunted by the sins of his past. We recall the famous opening words of his Confession: ‘I, Patrick, a sinner, and the least of all the faithful’.

In today’s Gospel, Saint Peter wrestled with his own sinfulness while still answering Jesus’ call to become a fisher of men. Jesus calls Peter to ‘put out into the deep’. Peter responds: ‘Leave me Lord, I am a sinful man.’

We all experience this tension between being called to follow Jesus – to live up to his values – and the reality of our sinful nature. There is true freedom in humbly acknowledging – like the wounded healers Peter and Patrick –  the full truth of our sinfulness.

This week a painful episode from my own past has come before me. I have listened to reaction from people to my role in events thirty five years ago. I want to say to anyone who has been hurt by any failure on my part that I apologise to you with all my heart. I also apologise to all those who feel I have let them down. Looking back I am ashamed that I have not always upheld the values that I profess and believe in.

These are momentous times for the Church in Ireland.

I believe the two years leading up to the Fiftieth International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin will be among the most critical for us since the time of St. Patrick. I deeply believe that God is calling us to a new beginning, to a time of Patrician energy, reform and renewal. I look forward to the Pastoral Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to the Faithful of Ireland as one important source for this renewal.

The Gospel we have just read, and the life of St. Patrick, also offers us some principles for this renewal.

Firstly, renewal begins with a sincere, prayerful listening to the Word of God. We have just heard how the crowds pressed around Jesus, hungry for his Word – the Word of life itself.

Secondly, we need to listen to the Spirit as the source of our renewal. St. Patrick heard the Spirit’s call in the ‘voice of the Irish’. As we search for the voice of the Spirit in our time, the Irish faithful must be involved more effectively within the Church.

Finally, we must humbly continue to deal with the enormity of the hurt caused by abuse of children by some clergy and religious and the hopelessly inadequate response to that abuse in the past.

I believe the period up to the Eucharistic Congress has to involve a sincere, wholehearted and truthful acknowledgement of our sinfulness. Like St. Patrick, like St. Peter, we as Bishops, successors of the Apostles in the Irish Church today must acknowledge our failings. The integrity of our witness to the Gospel challenges us to own up to and take responsibility for any mismanagement or cover-up of child abuse. For the sake of survivors, for the sake of all the Catholic faithful as well as the religious and priests of this country, we have to stop the drip, drip, drip of revelations of failure.

The Lord is calling us to a new beginning. None of us knows where that new beginning will lead. Does it allow for wounded healers, those who have made mistakes in their past to have a part in shaping the future? This is a time for deep prayer and much reflection. Be certain that I will be reflecting carefully as we enter into Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost. I will use this time to pray, to reflect on the Word of God and to discern the will of the Holy Spirit. I will reflect on what I have heard from those who have been hurt by abuse.  I will also talk to people, priests, religious and to those I know and love.

Pray for those who have been hurt. Pray for the Church. Pray for me.

• In late March 1975, Fr Seán Brady was asked by his bishop, Bishop Francis McKiernan, to conduct a canonical enquiry into an allegation of child sexual abuse which was made by a boy in Dundalk, concerning a Norbertine priest, Fr Brendan Smyth.

• Fr Brady was then a full-time teacher at St Patrick’s College, Cavan.  Because he held a doctorate in Canon Law, Fr Brady was asked to conduct this canonical enquiry; however he had no decision-making powers regarding the outcome of the enquiry.  Bishop McKiernan held this responsibility.

• On 29 March 1975, Fr Brady and two other priests interviewed a boy (14) in Dundalk.  Fr Brady’s role was to take notes.  On 4 April 1975, Fr Brady interviewed a second boy (15) in the Parochial House in Ballyjamesduff. On this occasion Fr Brady conducted the inquiry by himself and took notes.

• At the end of both interviews, the boys were asked to confirm by oath the truthfulness of their statements and that they would preserve the confidentiality of the interview process. The intention of this oath was to avoid potential collusion in the gathering of the inquiry’s evidence and to ensure that the process was robust enough to withstand challenge by the perpetrator, Fr Brendan Smyth.

• A week later Fr Brady passed his findings to Bishop McKiernan for his immediate action.

• Eight days later, on 12 April 1975, Bishop McKiernan reported the findings to Fr Smyth’s Religious Superior, the Abbot of Kilnacrott. The specific responsibility for the supervision of Fr Smith’s activities was, at all times, with his Religious Superiors. Bishop McKiernan withdrew Brendan Smyth’s priestly faculties and advised psychiatric intervention.

Further information:
Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678

Pastoral areas A, B, C, D and E will meet in the Glenavon Hotel, Cookstown on:
Tuesday 9 March
Thursday 15 April
Wednesday 26 May

Pastoral areas F, G, H and I will meet in the Armagh City Hotel on:
Wednesday 10 March
Thursday 22 April
Monday 24 May

Pastoral areas J, K, L, M and N will meet in the Carrickdale Hotel on:
Thursday 11 March
Wednesday 14 April
Monday 10 May

Pastoral areas O, P, Q and R will meet in the Boyne Valley Hotel, Drogheda on:
Thursday 18 March
Wednesday 21 April
Thursday 20 May