Fr James Chesney and the Claudy bombing – “The Catholic Church did not engage in a cover-up of this matter,” Cardinal Brady and Bishop Hegarty
I suspect most folk have already come across the headlines covering the recent Al Hutchinson’s report on the IRA Claudy bomb.
As this potentially involved a Catholic priest (Fr James Chesney) the headlines are predictably sensationalist and replete with terms such as Catholic Church Cover-up and Catholic Church Conspiracy.
In truth I know nothing about this incident, I wasn’t even born when it happened, so I’m going to hand over firstly to the Church Mouse:
News from the inquiry into the Claudy bombing in Northern Ireland in 1972 by the Police Ombudsman has been dominated by the question of whether there was a cover up by the Catholic Church. Mouse simply cannot see how this stacks up at all.
The question has arisen as a result of the transfer of Fr James Chesney out of Northern Ireland and into the Republic, whilst he was suspected of involvement in the bombing.
And secondly to the Catholic News Agency:
Two bishops responded Tuesday to claims that a Catholic priest was never questioned for his suspected role in a Northern Ireland bombing during the 1970s. The prelates remarked that the suspicions are “shocking” and commented that the case should have been properly investigated during the priest’s lifetime.
On July 31, 1972 a triple car bombing killed nine, including an eight-year-old girl, and injured 30 in the village of Claudy. Among those who died were five Catholics and four Protestants.
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) never claimed responsibility for the attacks, the Daily Telegraph reports. The bombers had allegedly tried to make warning calls but telephone lines were down from earlier bomb damage.
Fr. James Chesney, reported to be an IRA sympathizer, was suspected of planning the attack. He was later transferred to a parish in the Republic of Ireland outside of the United Kingdom’s jurisdiction.
The priest died of cancer in 1980 at the age of 46 and was never questioned by police.
Al Hutchinson, the Northern Ireland police ombudsman, recently issued a report which charged that a Royal Union Constabulary (RUC) official refused a detective’s request to arrest the cleric. The same official asked whether the matter could be raised within the Church hierarchy.
Hutchinson found that when the Church was informed about “the level of concerns others had” about Fr. Chesney, officials challenged the priest about his alleged activities “which he denied.”
“In the course of this enquiry the Police Ombudsman’s investigation found no evidence of any criminal intent on the part of any Church official,” stated the report.
Archbishop of Armagh Cardinal Seán Brady and Bishop of Derry Séamus Hegarty issued a joint statement Tuesday on the investigation. They accepted the ombudsman’s findings and conclusions.
“All known material in the possession of the Catholic Church has been made available to the Ombudsman,” the statement said.
“This case should have been properly investigated and resolved during Father Chesney’s lifetime. If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else. We agree with the Police Ombudsman that the fact this did not happen failed those who were murdered, injured and bereaved in the bombings.”
According to the prelates, the Catholic Church was “constant” in its condemnation of the violence during the conflict known as the “Troubles.”
“The Catholic Church did not engage in a cover-up of this matter,” Cardinal Brady and Bishop Hegarty wrote. They noted that the Church was approached by the then-Secretary of State at the instigation of senior members of the RUC.
According to the bishops, the actions of Cardinal William Conway or any other Church authority did not prevent the possibility of the future arrest and questioning of Fr. Chesney, as the priest was known to have regularly traveled across the border.
“Fr. Chesney is dead and, as a suspect in the Claudy bombing, he is beyond the justice of earthly courts,” the bishops’ statement continued, saying that the bereaved and injured “deserve to know the truth.”
Urging that the “human cost of this atrocity” be remembered, Cardinal Brady and Bishop Hegarty assured the bombing victims of their prayers.
“It is only with honesty and bravery that we as a community can address these painful issues and do our best to ensure that the dreadful lessons of the past are learned and never repeated,” the bishops’ statement concluded.
Tags: Church Life, Media, News, Politics, Religion Society
August 25th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Further Link:
Catholic Herald – Cardinal Conway was wrong to send a terrorist priest to another parish
August 25th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
@ webmaster: Don’t know why anyone’s surprised. This is what the Catholic church always does with criminal priests.
September 2nd, 2010 at 12:47 pm
There is no evidence against Fr Chesney, only long stale unsubstantiated hearsay and a letter that the cops agree is a forgery.
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:18 am
@ Fr Liam: The report by the police ombudsman for Northern Ireland published on 24th August found that Fr Chesney directed devastating IRA car bomb attacks in the Northern Irish village of Claudy in 1972 and his role was covered up by senior police officers, government ministers and the Catholic hierarchy.
The controversy is not over Fr Chesney’s part in these crimes but over the decision to hold back from a Catholic priest for political reasons. This is what the Secretary of State is apologising for. The absence of a prosecution means no case was ever prepared against him. This is unfair to everyone, including Fr Chesney.
If you sincerely believe in Fr Chesney’s innocence I suggest you press for a further enquiry, as the friends and family of those killed in the bombings are doing, though for different reasons.
One cannot help but notice that, just as with the “alleged” child-raping priests, the RCC’s response to an “alleged” terrorist in its ranks was to move him to another parish.
September 3rd, 2010 at 12:39 pm
It’s not just the RC Church that covers up the criminal activity of its priests. If you look at the website StopBaptistPredators.org you will see the Southern Baptist Churches in the USA doing exactly the same thing in respect of child abuse and sadly I would imagine most other Churches are equally at fault. In fact any powerful group will often attempt to protect its own from prosecution as we also see so often where the police or military are concerned.
September 5th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
@ Annie: Having visited it, I have to say that StopBaptistPredators.org is a terrible web site. The navigation is pretty much non-existent – it’s almost impossible to find anything – and whoever writes the articles tends to go off into tirades about how awful it all is (and, of course, it is awful) rather than provide evidence a visitor can evaluate.
Having spent half an hour using Google to navigate I gained an impression that yes, the Southern Baptist Churches are covering up for sexual predators. There seems to be a lot of evidence. However this information could be so much better presented and it would be far more powerful if it were effectively collated. The site’s a mess!
September 5th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
@ Annie: Sorry, I should perhaps have said that I’m criticising the site design, not minimising the issue. Seems to me the issue is far too serious for such a sloppy presentation.
If you’re involved with the site in any way, do you think you could get someone with a bit more editorial experience to crisp up the content or a professional designer to sort out the navigation?
September 5th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Hi Sophie
I have no personal involvement with the Stop.Baptistpredators.org and agree that it’s not the best site on the subject but was simply using it to illustrate the fact that the RC Church is not alone in covering up the crimes of it’s staff.
A much more professionally presented UK site on the subject of child protection is that of the Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Services, on http://www.ccpas.co.uk