Tom, thanks for your continued examination of this matter. The appalling Marmion crimes were concealed by eight successive Provincials over a period of fifty years. And let’s not forget that each Provincial had several senior advisors who were also knowledgeable and complicit in that concealment. So, we know that around 30-40 Irish Jesuits in leadership positions knew about the crimes and not only did nothing, but proactively protected Marmion and concealed his crimes.
So, it’s a bit of a stretch to claim you’ve done the right thing by naming an abuser when you only did so with a gun to your head. Marmion was just one brick in the wall, but an important one given the enormous and extraordinary (and deeply suspicious) sway he had over the Society in Ireland. Naming 15 of the remaining 44 was simply more of the bricks loosening from the Marmion disturbance. It will only be a matter of time before the remainder are named, but safely at a time when the victims are too old to complain, or dead.
But many of the Irish Jesuit Marmion concealers are not only still alive, some are active at the very top of the Jesuit totem pole in Rome. If the Jesuits want a pat on the back, they don’t get one for naming abusers who should have been named and arraigned 25 years ago, but they would get one (at least from me) for ensuring that not a single member of their leadership carries the taint of abuse, or the taint of the concealment of abuse. That, sadly and ashamedly, has not happened.
Thank you, Donal. As always you have an exceptionally clear-headed view of this whole affair while I will readily admit that I get so bloody angry that mine becomes somewhat clouded. The final point that you make is so germane that I shall incorporate it, if I may, into a further post?
Of course, Tom. Thanks again for your tenacity…dogs and bones pale by comparison! And for your courage in writing on the topic. Four years on from the Marmion disclosures, I can name only two out of eleven well-known Irish journalists who have been made clearly aware of the facts of the ongoing Jesuit hypocrisy and have written or reported on the matter. Barry Lenihan of RTE is one such stalwart, and you are the other. The remaining nine simply cited editorial demurral or just looked the other way. As long as the Angelus tolls a dog-whistle at 6pm on the national broadcaster every day, I don’t think Ireland can consider itself free from the influence of the cloth. Maybe I’m being unfair.
Thank you so much, Donal. That means a great deal to me. To be honest, I don't think it has involved courage. I think perhaps what has driven me is indignation. Or maybe anger? Anyway, I'll keep chewing on that old bone!
So sad to read about the history of denial and obfuscation…. I worked in social work with children and remember all too well how hard it was to get their voices heard when institutions, police and the courts found it so hard to deal promptly and sensitively with their revelations of abuse.
Indeed. Credit once again to former Belvedere pupil Donal Balance for exposing Marmion and forcing Moloney’s hand.
On a related note, I have been in touch with former Terenure pupils and I had not realised that only two former Terenure pupils have gone public despite numerous cases. There have been quite a few suicides apparently and many others have had their lives destroyed.
I have no idea what is happening as regards the Scoping Inquiry published last October. I was expecting a redress scheme to be put in place but that has not happened.
It feels like the storm of outrage against these clerical abusers has subsided.
Tom, thanks for your continued examination of this matter. The appalling Marmion crimes were concealed by eight successive Provincials over a period of fifty years. And let’s not forget that each Provincial had several senior advisors who were also knowledgeable and complicit in that concealment. So, we know that around 30-40 Irish Jesuits in leadership positions knew about the crimes and not only did nothing, but proactively protected Marmion and concealed his crimes.
So, it’s a bit of a stretch to claim you’ve done the right thing by naming an abuser when you only did so with a gun to your head. Marmion was just one brick in the wall, but an important one given the enormous and extraordinary (and deeply suspicious) sway he had over the Society in Ireland. Naming 15 of the remaining 44 was simply more of the bricks loosening from the Marmion disturbance. It will only be a matter of time before the remainder are named, but safely at a time when the victims are too old to complain, or dead.
But many of the Irish Jesuit Marmion concealers are not only still alive, some are active at the very top of the Jesuit totem pole in Rome. If the Jesuits want a pat on the back, they don’t get one for naming abusers who should have been named and arraigned 25 years ago, but they would get one (at least from me) for ensuring that not a single member of their leadership carries the taint of abuse, or the taint of the concealment of abuse. That, sadly and ashamedly, has not happened.
Thank you, Donal. As always you have an exceptionally clear-headed view of this whole affair while I will readily admit that I get so bloody angry that mine becomes somewhat clouded. The final point that you make is so germane that I shall incorporate it, if I may, into a further post?
Of course, Tom. Thanks again for your tenacity…dogs and bones pale by comparison! And for your courage in writing on the topic. Four years on from the Marmion disclosures, I can name only two out of eleven well-known Irish journalists who have been made clearly aware of the facts of the ongoing Jesuit hypocrisy and have written or reported on the matter. Barry Lenihan of RTE is one such stalwart, and you are the other. The remaining nine simply cited editorial demurral or just looked the other way. As long as the Angelus tolls a dog-whistle at 6pm on the national broadcaster every day, I don’t think Ireland can consider itself free from the influence of the cloth. Maybe I’m being unfair.
Thank you so much, Donal. That means a great deal to me. To be honest, I don't think it has involved courage. I think perhaps what has driven me is indignation. Or maybe anger? Anyway, I'll keep chewing on that old bone!
Carmelites ???????
They have not exactly covered themselves in glory...
So sad to read about the history of denial and obfuscation…. I worked in social work with children and remember all too well how hard it was to get their voices heard when institutions, police and the courts found it so hard to deal promptly and sensitively with their revelations of abuse.
It does seem so strange that the powerful are so reluctant to side with the the powerless, Jacky. You must have seen some very sad cases.
I laugh at the attempts to bestow the description of "courage" on people who only admitted wrongdoing only in the face of incontrovertible evidence.
Apologies are an industry in this area and are totally meaningless since they are only made in an attempt at damage limitation.
Despite apologies, the main focus still seems to be to minimise damage, particularly fiscal damage!
Ronan, you have put it in a nut shell!
Indeed. Credit once again to former Belvedere pupil Donal Balance for exposing Marmion and forcing Moloney’s hand.
On a related note, I have been in touch with former Terenure pupils and I had not realised that only two former Terenure pupils have gone public despite numerous cases. There have been quite a few suicides apparently and many others have had their lives destroyed.
See https://villagemagazine.ie/2017-when-the-dam-broke-for-religious-schools/
I have no idea what is happening as regards the Scoping Inquiry published last October. I was expecting a redress scheme to be put in place but that has not happened.
It feels like the storm of outrage against these clerical abusers has subsided.
Yes, Tom, there is always a danger of public fatigue setting in!