In a First for Ireland, Priests Dismissed

[emad]

Thursday December 16, 2004 5:01 PM

By SHAWN POGATCHNIK

Associated Press Writer

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Pope John Paul II has defrocked two Catholic priests convicted of sexually abusing children in Ireland, an unprecedented move in this predominantly Catholic nation, church officials confirmed Thursday.

``The diocese confirms that two priests, previously convicted of child sexual abuse, have been dismissed from the clerical state,'' said the Rev. John Carroll, spokesman for Ireland's southeast Ferns diocese, which has been hard hit by sex abuse scandals.

The church declined to identify either man, but only two priests from the Ferns diocese have been convicted of such abuse: James Doyle and Donal Collins. Collins received a four-year sentence in 1998 for abusing several boys; Collins received a one-year suspended sentence in 1990 for abusing one boy.

The church rarely defrocks priests, even those found guilty of crimes, and the decision was the first time the Vatican has dismissed a priest in Ireland over sexual abuse.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4677079,00.html

[aquart]

1. Yowza.

[CountAllVotes]

2. my guess

you're thrilled.

[lastliberalintexas]

6. Anyone should be

[xchrom]

3. better late than never

[MADem]

4. It had to be EGREGIOUS behavior

...for ole JP to actually can those guys. I find the sentences very light, though, disturbingly so. There are probably many, many more victims that were unwilling (perhaps due to the outdated notion of shame) to cooperate with the prosecution, and this came to the attention of the hierarchy.

[deadparrot]

5. It's a start, I guess.

The Vatican is still not doing anywhere near enough to correct this, IMHO.

[liberalhistorian]

8. No, they're certainly not,

and this is absolutely amazing that any priest would be defrocked in Ireland. It's about time that justice was served. The problem is, they have to be very, very careful not to turn this into a witch hunt; after all, there have been some innocent priests accused of abuse.

[CountAllVotes]

9. it is already a witch hunt IMO

and it is a real nice way to bash the Irish too.

:grr:

[MichiganVote]

11. I'm Irish, I was raised catholic and to my knowledge, the

"witch hunt" has netted less than 50 or so innocent priests as opposed to the thousands and thousands of cases worldwide that have been uncovered after decades of cover up's. Not a perfect exchange but I can live with that.

[bobthedrummer]

7. No one is above the law.

All Power to The People.

[SoCalDem]

10. When a priest molests a child, it should be a police matter FIRST

the fact that he is a priest should be little more than a blip.. a line on a booking form.. "place of employment________"..."address______".

Being a priest should not mean that the "church" should be able to "handle the situation".. We all know how they usually handle it.. they exile the pervert to another unsuspecting parish, with a promise form him to "behave himself"..

They belong behind bars, just as a teacher, cub scout leader, banker, doctor or any other "profession" woould be treated.

I just wish that parents would head for the police station when they find out a priest molested their kid, instead of heading for the church.. That only allows the abuse to be covered up./

[Anakin Skywalker]

12. Agreed. n/t