An independent enquiry into the scandal of sexual abuses of children has been decided by the bishops of the Irish Episcopal Conference, gathered in extraordinary session after the resignation of the bishop of Ferns, Brendan Oliver Comiskey, on 6 April. Bishop Comiskey is accused by a BBC documentary of failing promptly to denounce a priest, Father Fortune, for the sexual abuse of children. The priest committed suicide in 1999 while in prison on 29 charges of sexual violence committed on juveniles. “Father Fortune declared Bishop Comiskey who on several occasions suspended and then reinstated the priest in the ministry committed very grave errors and caused injury to many persons, but in my dealings with him I ought to have been better informed and taken more decisive action and for this failure on my part I ask for forgiveness”. “We have felt an urgent need to establish the full truth on how accusations of sexual abuse are dealt with in the various dioceses”, say the bishops in a press release that explains the reasons for the enquiry. “The safety of children, the well-being of the victims and the common good are our paramount concerns and will be the sole decisive factors that will guide the enquiry, so that the truth may be re-established”.
