Bishop of Raphoe apologises to sex abuse victims

The Bishop of Raphoe has again apologised to victims of a priest named in the Murphy report who worked in the Diocese during the Seventies.

In a statement, Bishop Philip Boyce has told of being “shocked and disturbed” by the contents of the Murphy Report on the handling of cases of child sexual abuse by members of the clergy in the Archdiocese of Dublin.

One of those named in the report was Fr Patrick Maguire, now a convicted child sex abuser, who served in the Diocese for a year between 1974 and 1975.

In 1997, the missionary priest, admitted abusing 70 boys in a number of countries.

Bishop Boyce said he is deeply upset that while Fr Maguire was serving in the Diocese, he was carrying out what the Bishop describes as “heinous” crimes of a sexual nature.

The Bishop added that was already reported in local media at the time of Fr Maguire’s conviction.

To Father Maguire’s victims and their families, Bishop Boyce said he apologises again and expressed his  “heartfelt” sympathy and regret.

The Bishop went on to state that the Diocese takes the duty of safeguarding children very seriously and all allegations are reported to the Gardai and the HSE.

The fall-out in the publication of the Murphy report is continuing today.

The document exposed 30 years of ‘denial, arrogance and cover-up’ of clerical abuse in the Dublin archdiocese.