Addressing abuse legacy and the future of Dromore diocese

Redress scheme aims to reach as many victims and survivors as possible as Dromore looks at potential amalgamation, Chai Brady hears

The future of Dromore diocese is far from certain as a pioneering redress scheme for survivors of clerical sexual abuse is set to decimate financial resources, which will mean the continuation of evangelisation and mission must be “triggered at a local level”.

Primate of All-Ireland Archbishop Eamon Martin, who is the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Dromore, announced the redress scheme last week.

But the most important thing of course is what is the most effective way of handing on the Faith and preaching the Gospel”

“There will be very little at the centre available to drive initiatives but perhaps, as Pope Francis’ synodal pathway is showing us, evangelisation and mission will probably have to be triggered at local level,” Archbishop Martin told The Irish Catholic.

However, he added: “I think it is possible for this diocese to look at ways of funding evangelisation initiatives, synodal initiatives, and that’s certainly something that the diocese will have to look to but certainly it is true there won’t be a central resource available in the diocese to drive a lot of projects in the coming years.

“Perhaps you might be looking at smaller initiatives but perhaps small is where we’re all having to think over the next number of years because with the decline in priestly vocations, vocations to religious life, I think the future of the Church in Ireland is more and more in the hands of local parish communities and families handing on the Faith,” he said.

Regarding the future of Dromore diocese, Dr Martin said the big questions will be personnel and resources, “but the most important thing of course is what is the most effective way of handing on the Faith and preaching the Gospel”.

He explained that many parishes around the country have already had to realise some smaller units can no longer be sustainable and this is being looked at in Dromore.

Archbishop Martin specifically requested that he become the apostolic administrator of Dromore due to the need to tackle its legacy of abuse. He recommended to the papal nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, that any further consultations regarding the future leadership of the diocese be suspended for a few years to allow him to become acquainted with the diocese “to get to know the problems, the challenges, the future and then to begin a process”.

While this pertains to the redress scheme, he will also be looking at the diocese’s future, which could include amalgamation with another diocese.

Amalgamation

Dr Martin said: “There are a number of possibilities there and it’s not necessarily the case that a small diocese isn’t the best way of doing things so I think you have to examine the particular context of each diocese.

“So what I’m hoping to do particularly is to harness the whole synodal pathway, to have the conversation in this diocese of Dromore with people, priests and religious as to how they see their future, because I think it’s really important to begin on the ground – sometimes the whole discussion begins, we think, in some office over in Rome.”

Then the other possibility is that you go for a full amalgamation”

There may be a “strong case” to be made that a diocese such as Dromore, while it is small, still has a large Catholic population and a number of large towns, which would mean that even though geographically it’s small it is probably considerably bigger than some of the other small dioceses in the country, according to Archbishop Martin, “So they’ll have to decide whether or not the diocese should go alone”. The diocese includes portions of Co. Down, Co. Antrim and Co. Armagh.

Following a more Anglican model, there is also the possibility the diocese could share a bishop from another diocese, which happened most recently when the dioceses of Cork and Ross shared a bishop before eventually amalgamating – becoming the Diocese of Cork and Ross.
“Then the other possibility is that you go for a full amalgamation,” said Archbishop Eamon.  “So I think that there are a number of options there which should be looked at, but I would stress and I have already said to the papal nuncio and to the congregation in Rome, I feel that you really do need to have this conversation with the people, the priests – those on the ground who know their diocese.

“Everybody wants their own diocese; nobody wants to be amalgamated or to lose their identity and you have to remember that the dioceses of Ireland are one thousand years old. You don’t want to be just losing the identity, the history, the traditions, the culture, the saints – all of those things that are associated with the diocese by just creating large units. Then you have a number of dioceses in Ireland, take Dublin for example which is huge, and you also have to ask the question there: could a diocese become too big?”

Redress scheme

Dr Martin has served as apostolic administrator in Dromore since 2019. Bishop John McAreavey resigned in March 2018 following criticism of his handling of allegations of abuse.

Announcing the redress scheme last Wednesday, the diocese stated it “apologises unreservedly for the hurt and damage caused to victims and survivors of any priest or Church representative acting under its authority. The Diocese of Dromore finds such behaviour towards children and vulnerable people abhorrent, inexcusable and indefensible”.

It added that the redress scheme came about after meetings with a number of survivors and an examination of the various existing legal claims against the diocese.

Archbishop Martin said he “wishes to facilitate a resolution process to enable the provision of financial and other supports for survivors without undue further delay”.

This new scheme will be open to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse suffered at the hands of representatives of the diocese. The scheme endeavours to ensure a process which is victim-centred and aims to provide victims with recognition and compensation without the need for lengthy investigation and litigation.

“The redress scheme is intended to try and reach as many victims and survivors as possible, the Diocese of Dromore does not have a lot of resources and one of my concerns is the limited resources of the diocese will not enable us through court processes to satisfy the number of victims and survivors who are out there so the redress scheme is one way of trying to ensure that as many victims and survivors as possible can receive some recognition from the diocese,” Archbishop Martin said.

About £2.5 million of unrestricted diocesan funds are available for the scheme, with individual awards being capped at £80,000. The archbishop added that the diocese was also looking at assets it might have to support the scheme.

As well as enabling the provision of financial redress, it includes the possibility of a personal apology on behalf of the diocese and other ways of providing pastoral support.

The diocese will also support the provision of counselling via the ‘Towards Healing’ service established for survivors of abuse in the Church.

The scheme will respond to applications where there are allegations of sexual abuse – including sexual grooming – which may or may not have been accompanied by physical and/or emotional abuse, and which occurred when the applicant was under the age of 18.

All applications will be assessed by an independent panel, appointed via an independent process managed by a third-party organisation.

Fr Finnegan worked at St Colman’s College in Newry from 1967 to 1987, and was the school’s president for the last decade”

The diocese said that in assessing applications the panel will have regard to all the available information and make its decision on the balance of probabilities and on a majority basis.

The process will fall outside the civil litigation process and be comparable to a mediation and it is anticipated that the process will be informal in nature but is intended to be binding on the parties should a resolution be agreed.

In the past 35 years up to 70 people have come forward to make allegations of abuse related to Dromore diocese, with more than half relating to the late Fr Malachy Finnegan.

Fr Finnegan worked at St Colman’s College in Newry from 1967 to 1987, and was the school’s president for the last decade. He went on to serve as a parish priest in Co. Down and died in 2002.