Archbishop Diarmuid Martin calls for establishment of independent Fr Brendan Smyth inquiry
Sunday, 6 May 2012
The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has called for an independent international commission of inquiry into the crimes of Fr Brendan Smyth, the late paedophile priest.
Dr Martin said such an inquiry was owed to victims and that it would be in the public interest that the full story, and not bits and pieces, should come out....
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0506/archbishop-martin-calls-for-smyth-inquiry.html
Vatican ‘has blood on hands’ over Smyth affair
By Claire O’Sullivan
Saturday, May 05, 2012
An American lawyer who was abused by Fr Brendan Smyth has said that the Vatican has "blood on its hands" for its failure to inform Irish Church authorities that it had censured Smyth for abuse in the United States years before the 1975 secret inquiry.
Helen McGonigle has learnt that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Religious issued a decree that Smyth wasn’t allowed to take Confession and was to be supervised following abuse complaints made in the late 60s.
Yet, in 1975 the Bishop of Kilmore and the Abbot of Killnacrott agreed a similar censure of Smyth — seemingly oblivious that a similar reprimand had already been handed down.
"Why didn’t the bishop or the abbot inform the Papal Nuncio of this second censure? Why weren’t they informed by the Vatican of the original censure? It is very clear that the 1968 censure was not enforced. What does all of this say about the organisation that is the Catholic Church," Ms McGonigle asked.
Ms McGonigle has pleaded with police on both sides of the border to investigate Cardinal Brady for his possible role in perverting the course of justice and endangering children.
She pointed to current cases being taken against Catholic priests in the US for failing to report abuse allegations to the civil authorities.
"They are enablers, Cardinal Brady and all these priests. That is what they were asked to do and that’s what they have done," she said.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/vatican-has-blood-on-hands-over-smyth-affair-192867.html
Showing posts with label Helen McGonigle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Helen McGonigle. Show all posts
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Cardinal Brady should face criminal probe says Smyth child victim, Human Trafficking in Canada
articles:
- Church crisis: Cardinal Brady should face criminal probe says Smyth child victim
- Abuse survivor: Without courage or integrity Cardinal Brady failed and it is unforgivable
- In full: Cardinal Brady responds to allegations over role in abuse inquiry
- Professor Perrin Appointed Special Advisor to the Prime Minister (first book, Invisible Chains: Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking)
Church crisis: Cardinal Brady should face criminal probe says Smyth child victim
By Independent.ie reporters
Friday May 04 2012
A WOMAN, who was sexually abused as a child by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth, today called for a criminal investigation into the actions of Cardinal Sean Brady.
American lawyer Helen McGonigle, (50) who now campaigns for survivors of clerical sexual abuse, said the All Ireland Primate should resign for not alerting other families to Smyth’s horrific catalogue of abuse.
She was molested by Smyth in the late 1960s in Rhode Island, New York.
Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster today, Ms McGonigle said she was "outraged" by Cardinal Brady's response to allegations in a BBC documentary broadcast this week.
She said Cardinal Sean Brady's "duty as a human" was to protect children and his failure to act properly on Brendan Boland's complaint – when he named other five other children being abused - was "unforgivable".
The Cardinal had shown "arrogance and insensitivity", Ms McGonigle said.
She was just six-years-old and preparing for the sacrament of penance when she was abused by Smyth, who led her from her classmates into the sacristy of the church where he molested her....
Smyth was already known to have sexually molested children when he was sent to the McGonigles' parish in the summer of 1965. Using his usual modus operandi, he befriended the family and they bonded over a shared Irish ancestry.
Speaking to the Irish Independent two years ago, Ms McGonigle, who is an attorney living in Connecticut, said: "From 1967 until about 1970 he molested me. He was caught in my parish molesting children as early as 1968....
While any intervention by Cardinal Brady in 1975 would have been too late to save the children of East Greenwich, Ms McGonigle said many others could have been protected....
She said Cardinal Brady must resign and he should be charged with obstruction of justice.
"He sat on this knowledge for 35 years, from 1975 through to 2010, and Brendan Smith continued to abuse children. It is only because of the lawsuit one of his victims has brought that he has had to show his hand."
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/church-crisis-cardinal-brady-should-face-criminal-probe-says-smyth-child-victim-3099251.html
Abuse survivor: Without courage or integrity Cardinal Brady failed and it is unforgivable 5/3/12
....Now an executive director of Amnesty International Ireland, O’Gorman was not satisfied with the similar but weak defence offered by Scicluna and Brady yesterday that back in 1975 Brady was only a ‘notary’ in the interviews.
“Authority is not needed to walk into a Garda station to report the abuse and rape of children. It takes courage and a sense of moral decency,” he said, adding that it was important to remember that Brady was a highly-educated and qualified Canon lawyer at the time. He was also 35-years-old.
Commenting on the atrocious acts of Smyth that spanned a forty-year period, O’Gorman recalls the level of terror still visible in Brendan Smyth’s victims years later as something “extraordinary”.
http://www.thejournal.ie/abuse-survivor-without-courage-or-integrity-cardinal-brady-failed-and-it-is-unforgiveable-437703-May2012/
In full: Cardinal Brady responds to allegations over role in abuse inquiry 5/2/12 http://www.thejournal.ie/in-full-cardinal-brady-responds-to-allegations-over-role-in-abuse-inquiry-437208-May2012/
Professor Perrin Appointed Special Advisor to the Prime Minister
UBC Law Professor Benjamin Perrin has recently been appointed as Special Advisor, Legal Affairs & Policy in the Prime Minister's Office in Ottawa....
In 2010, Professor Perrin published his first book, Invisible Chains: Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking (Penguin Canada, 2010). The book, an expose on the issue of human trafficking in Canada, was named one of the top books of the year by The Globe and Mail.
He has testified before a number of Parliamentary committees studying the issue of human trafficking and child sexual exploitation. In 2010, Parliament adopted Bill C-268, a private members' bill calling for mandatory minimum sentences for child traffickers. Professor Perrin proposed and helped draft the bill, which was first introduced to the House of Commons in January 2009 by Member of Parliament Joy Smith....
Professor Perrin...is co-editor of Human Trafficking: Exploring the International Nature, Concerns and Complexities (CRC Press, 2011), and editor of Modern Warfare: Armed Groups, Private Militaries, Humanitarian Organizations and the Law (UBC Press, 2012). http://www.law.ubc.ca/news/2012/may/05_01_12_perrin.html
- Church crisis: Cardinal Brady should face criminal probe says Smyth child victim
- Abuse survivor: Without courage or integrity Cardinal Brady failed and it is unforgivable
- In full: Cardinal Brady responds to allegations over role in abuse inquiry
- Professor Perrin Appointed Special Advisor to the Prime Minister (first book, Invisible Chains: Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking)
Church crisis: Cardinal Brady should face criminal probe says Smyth child victim
By Independent.ie reporters
Friday May 04 2012
A WOMAN, who was sexually abused as a child by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth, today called for a criminal investigation into the actions of Cardinal Sean Brady.
American lawyer Helen McGonigle, (50) who now campaigns for survivors of clerical sexual abuse, said the All Ireland Primate should resign for not alerting other families to Smyth’s horrific catalogue of abuse.
She was molested by Smyth in the late 1960s in Rhode Island, New York.
Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster today, Ms McGonigle said she was "outraged" by Cardinal Brady's response to allegations in a BBC documentary broadcast this week.
She said Cardinal Sean Brady's "duty as a human" was to protect children and his failure to act properly on Brendan Boland's complaint – when he named other five other children being abused - was "unforgivable".
The Cardinal had shown "arrogance and insensitivity", Ms McGonigle said.
She was just six-years-old and preparing for the sacrament of penance when she was abused by Smyth, who led her from her classmates into the sacristy of the church where he molested her....
Smyth was already known to have sexually molested children when he was sent to the McGonigles' parish in the summer of 1965. Using his usual modus operandi, he befriended the family and they bonded over a shared Irish ancestry.
Speaking to the Irish Independent two years ago, Ms McGonigle, who is an attorney living in Connecticut, said: "From 1967 until about 1970 he molested me. He was caught in my parish molesting children as early as 1968....
While any intervention by Cardinal Brady in 1975 would have been too late to save the children of East Greenwich, Ms McGonigle said many others could have been protected....
She said Cardinal Brady must resign and he should be charged with obstruction of justice.
"He sat on this knowledge for 35 years, from 1975 through to 2010, and Brendan Smith continued to abuse children. It is only because of the lawsuit one of his victims has brought that he has had to show his hand."
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/church-crisis-cardinal-brady-should-face-criminal-probe-says-smyth-child-victim-3099251.html
Abuse survivor: Without courage or integrity Cardinal Brady failed and it is unforgivable 5/3/12
....Now an executive director of Amnesty International Ireland, O’Gorman was not satisfied with the similar but weak defence offered by Scicluna and Brady yesterday that back in 1975 Brady was only a ‘notary’ in the interviews.
“Authority is not needed to walk into a Garda station to report the abuse and rape of children. It takes courage and a sense of moral decency,” he said, adding that it was important to remember that Brady was a highly-educated and qualified Canon lawyer at the time. He was also 35-years-old.
Commenting on the atrocious acts of Smyth that spanned a forty-year period, O’Gorman recalls the level of terror still visible in Brendan Smyth’s victims years later as something “extraordinary”.
http://www.thejournal.ie/abuse-survivor-without-courage-or-integrity-cardinal-brady-failed-and-it-is-unforgiveable-437703-May2012/
In full: Cardinal Brady responds to allegations over role in abuse inquiry 5/2/12 http://www.thejournal.ie/in-full-cardinal-brady-responds-to-allegations-over-role-in-abuse-inquiry-437208-May2012/
Professor Perrin Appointed Special Advisor to the Prime Minister
UBC Law Professor Benjamin Perrin has recently been appointed as Special Advisor, Legal Affairs & Policy in the Prime Minister's Office in Ottawa....
In 2010, Professor Perrin published his first book, Invisible Chains: Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking (Penguin Canada, 2010). The book, an expose on the issue of human trafficking in Canada, was named one of the top books of the year by The Globe and Mail.
He has testified before a number of Parliamentary committees studying the issue of human trafficking and child sexual exploitation. In 2010, Parliament adopted Bill C-268, a private members' bill calling for mandatory minimum sentences for child traffickers. Professor Perrin proposed and helped draft the bill, which was first introduced to the House of Commons in January 2009 by Member of Parliament Joy Smith....
Professor Perrin...is co-editor of Human Trafficking: Exploring the International Nature, Concerns and Complexities (CRC Press, 2011), and editor of Modern Warfare: Armed Groups, Private Militaries, Humanitarian Organizations and the Law (UBC Press, 2012). http://www.law.ubc.ca/news/2012/may/05_01_12_perrin.html
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Roman Polanski, Top Scientologist, Book focuses on abuse by priest
The files that damn Roman Polanski: Court account of what director REALLY did to a girl, 13 By Glenys Roberts 20th May 2010....
This extraordinary attempt to influence the authorities follows a high-profile campaign by the 76-year-old director's many showbusiness friends.
Polanski's 44-year-old wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner, has marshalled all her associates to his defence, while more than 100 stars have signed a petition for his release, including directors Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen (who, coincidentally, has granted a part in his new film to President Sarkozy's wife, Carla Bruni).
....This week, the campaign was rather dented by accusations from actress Charlotte Lewis, who claimed Polanski had 'sexually abused' her in 1983 when she was only 16 after plying her with Moet & Chandon champagne.
Lewis, who is now helping Los Angeles prosecutors, alleges he told her: 'I must sleep with every actress that I work with.'....
No doubt Polanski's supporters will dismiss Lewis's story as irrelevant, but together with the case of Samantha Geimer, many will feel these latest accusations suggest a disturbing pattern of behaviour involving drink, teenage girls and sex.
Would Polanski's cheerleaders be quite so vocal in his defence if they knew exactly what happened that afternoon in 1977 with 13-year-old Samantha?
The Mail has obtained Polanski's probation officer's report - an extraordinarily revealing document which records in grim and forensic detail how the then 43-year-old went about seducing a girl 30 years his junior with the aid of a good deal of alcohol and a drug that would have rendered her almost incapable of resisting....
The 28-page probation report was prepared for this sentencing - court case A334139, 'The people of the state of California vs Roman Raymond Polanski' - and was put together during the six weeks that the director was in Chino jail for psychiatric assessment.
It reveals that far from the crime being an impromptu lapse, as his supporters argue, Polanski carried out not just one, but a succession of sexual assaults against Samantha - and that he knew exactly what he was doing throughout....
That night, Samantha poured out her story to her 17-year-old boyfriend who had come over to see her.
Her mother overheard their conversation and called the police. Polanski had no defence. The girl was taken to a local hospital, where a medical examination established without doubt that sex had taken place.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1279787/The-files-damn-Roman-Polanski-Court-account-director-really-did-girl-13.html
Top Scientologist 'covered up sex abuse' By Steve Cannane May 20, 2010 A senior figure in the Church of Scientology has been accused of trying to cover up the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in Sydney. In an exclusive interview for ABC1's Lateline program, a former member of the Church of Scientology says she was coached by a senior figure in the church to lie to police about the abuse at the hands of her stepfather....
Ms Rainer says it was indoctrination that led her to agree to protect the Church of Scientology instead of her daughter - an act that has lead to a strained relationship.
"It would be hard for an outsider to understand why it would be done, but you are so totally brainwashed by their beliefs and then you get told that if you go this particular way you will lose everything, you will lose your future," she said.
Carmen Rainer has now made a statement to police outlining the allegations against Ms Eastgate and police are investigating the matter. The Church of Scientology said in a statement the allegations were untrue and defamatory.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/20/2904503.htm
Book focuses on abuse by priest by ERICA BAJER, QMI AGENCY
A new book about a clergy sexual abuse scandal that rocked southwestern Ontario carries a message of hope, the author said Tuesday. "The message is the important thing," Jim Gilbert said during the launch of Breach of Faith, Breach of Trust: The Story of Lou Ann Soontiens, Father Charles Sylvestre and Sexual Abuse within the Catholic Church....
The pedophile priest was convicted in 2006 of molesting 47 girls over four decades in churches in Chatham, Pain Court, London, Sarnia and Windsor. Sylvestre served in Port Dover from 1965 to 1968. None of the incidents are connected to his time at St. Cecilia's church.
The 84-year-old was sentenced to three years behind bars. He died less than six months later.
http://www.simcoereformer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2585245
This extraordinary attempt to influence the authorities follows a high-profile campaign by the 76-year-old director's many showbusiness friends.
Polanski's 44-year-old wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner, has marshalled all her associates to his defence, while more than 100 stars have signed a petition for his release, including directors Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen (who, coincidentally, has granted a part in his new film to President Sarkozy's wife, Carla Bruni).
....This week, the campaign was rather dented by accusations from actress Charlotte Lewis, who claimed Polanski had 'sexually abused' her in 1983 when she was only 16 after plying her with Moet & Chandon champagne.
Lewis, who is now helping Los Angeles prosecutors, alleges he told her: 'I must sleep with every actress that I work with.'....
No doubt Polanski's supporters will dismiss Lewis's story as irrelevant, but together with the case of Samantha Geimer, many will feel these latest accusations suggest a disturbing pattern of behaviour involving drink, teenage girls and sex.
Would Polanski's cheerleaders be quite so vocal in his defence if they knew exactly what happened that afternoon in 1977 with 13-year-old Samantha?
The Mail has obtained Polanski's probation officer's report - an extraordinarily revealing document which records in grim and forensic detail how the then 43-year-old went about seducing a girl 30 years his junior with the aid of a good deal of alcohol and a drug that would have rendered her almost incapable of resisting....
The 28-page probation report was prepared for this sentencing - court case A334139, 'The people of the state of California vs Roman Raymond Polanski' - and was put together during the six weeks that the director was in Chino jail for psychiatric assessment.
It reveals that far from the crime being an impromptu lapse, as his supporters argue, Polanski carried out not just one, but a succession of sexual assaults against Samantha - and that he knew exactly what he was doing throughout....
That night, Samantha poured out her story to her 17-year-old boyfriend who had come over to see her.
Her mother overheard their conversation and called the police. Polanski had no defence. The girl was taken to a local hospital, where a medical examination established without doubt that sex had taken place.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1279787/The-files-damn-Roman-Polanski-Court-account-director-really-did-girl-13.html
Top Scientologist 'covered up sex abuse' By Steve Cannane May 20, 2010 A senior figure in the Church of Scientology has been accused of trying to cover up the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in Sydney. In an exclusive interview for ABC1's Lateline program, a former member of the Church of Scientology says she was coached by a senior figure in the church to lie to police about the abuse at the hands of her stepfather....
Ms Rainer says it was indoctrination that led her to agree to protect the Church of Scientology instead of her daughter - an act that has lead to a strained relationship.
"It would be hard for an outsider to understand why it would be done, but you are so totally brainwashed by their beliefs and then you get told that if you go this particular way you will lose everything, you will lose your future," she said.
Carmen Rainer has now made a statement to police outlining the allegations against Ms Eastgate and police are investigating the matter. The Church of Scientology said in a statement the allegations were untrue and defamatory.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/20/2904503.htm
Book focuses on abuse by priest by ERICA BAJER, QMI AGENCY
A new book about a clergy sexual abuse scandal that rocked southwestern Ontario carries a message of hope, the author said Tuesday. "The message is the important thing," Jim Gilbert said during the launch of Breach of Faith, Breach of Trust: The Story of Lou Ann Soontiens, Father Charles Sylvestre and Sexual Abuse within the Catholic Church....
The pedophile priest was convicted in 2006 of molesting 47 girls over four decades in churches in Chatham, Pain Court, London, Sarnia and Windsor. Sylvestre served in Port Dover from 1965 to 1968. None of the incidents are connected to his time at St. Cecilia's church.
The 84-year-old was sentenced to three years behind bars. He died less than six months later.
http://www.simcoereformer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2585245
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Helen McGonigle, Attorney & Victim of Brendan Smyth
RTE News: Prime Time 5/18/10 Helen McGonigle, Attorney & Victim of Brendan Smyth, Fr Brendan Purcell, Lecturer in Philosophy, UCD, and Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent, Irish Times, discuss Seán Brady's position http://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0518/primetime_av.html?2755841,null,230
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0518/primetime_av.html?2755841,null,230
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