Report reveals more Irish Church abuse

13 July 2011 Last updated at 15:58 GMT The Cloyne report was critical of Bishop John Magee A report published on Wednesday has criticised a Catholic diocese in County Cork for a failure to report all complaints of abuse to police.

The Commission of Investigation into the Diocese of Cloyne investigated how allegations against 19 priests were dealt with between 1996 and 2009.

The report said Bishop of Cloyne John Magee could not avoid "responsibility by blaming subordinates".

The Catholic Church has apologised following the report.

The leader of Ireland's Catholics, Cardinal Sean Brady, said it was another "dark day in the history of the response of church leaders to the cry of children abused by church personnel".

"The findings of this report confirm that grave errors of judgement were made and serious failures of leadership occurred," he said

"This is deplorable and totally unacceptable."

Bishop Magee was one of the priests identified by the commission.

The Cloyne report, which runs to 400 pages, said there were concerns about Bishop Magee's interaction with a 17-year-old boy.

"The commission regrets that it has not been possible to report the case involving concerns about Bishop Magee without identifying him," the report said.

"Concerns were expressed about his interaction with a 17-year-old boy."

It said the teenager, who had been contemplating joining the priesthood, was concerned that "the behaviour of the bishop towards him, which had not perturbed him at the time, was, on reflection, disquieting".

However, the report said it was satisfied that this case had been dealt with appropriately.

The Newry-born Bishop Magee stepped aside in 2009 after an earlier report criticised his handling of abuse allegations.

The Cloyne report, which was published by Justice Minister Alan Shatter and Children's Minister Frances Fitzgerald, said the response of the diocese to allegations of child sexual abuse for the period of 1996 to 2008 was "inadequate and inappropriate".

It said it was a "remarkable fact" that Bishop Magee had taken "little or no active interest" in the management of clerical sexual abuse cases until 2008. This was 12 years after the rules on how to deal with such matters were implemented by the church.

It added that Bishop Magee had to "a certain extent, detached himself from the day to day management of child sexual abuse cases".

"Bishop Magee was head of the diocese and cannot avoid his responsibility by blaming subordinates whom he wholly failed to supervise," the report said.

Complaints

The commission said it was aware of some 40 people who may have been affected by clerical abuse in the diocese.

All but two complaints came from people who were adults at the time the complaint was made.

The report said between 1995 and 2005 there were 15 complaints against clergy in the diocese which should have been reported.

The most serious lapse was the failure to report the two cases in which the alleged victims were minors at the time the complaint was made.

It also said there was no communication with a neighbouring diocese when a priest who had retired because of complaints went to live there.

However, there was no case in which the diocese moved priests against whom allegations had been made.

A number of priests whom allegations were made against were "retired".

The inquiry was set up by the Irish government in January 2009 following a report published the previous month.

It was conducted by the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) - a body set up by the Catholic Church to oversee child protection policies.

It found child protection practices in the diocese were "inadequate and in some respects dangerous".

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Galliano blames drink for 'abuse'

22 June 2011 Last updated at 20:52 GMT Lawyer Aurelien Hamelle says Galliano is "a loving character who loves diversity"

British fashion designer John Galliano has told a Paris court that his drug and alcohol addictions were to blame for his alleged anti-Semitic outbursts.

Prosecutors say he hurled racial slurs at customers in Paris a cafe.

The designer, who was fired by the Dior fashion house over the allegations, said he had no recollection of the events and denied being racist.

If convicted, he faces a possible six months in jail and a fine of up to 22,500-euro (?20,000).

Prosecutors have asked for a fine of not less than 10,000 euros.

Mr Galliano is charged with "public insults based on origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity". The verdict will be announced on 8 September.

The trial focuses on two alleged incidents in October and February.

Video of a third incident - in which he was shown saying to two women in a cafe, "I love Hitler", and telling them that their parents could have been gassed by the Nazis - was used as evidence in court.

But after watching the footage in court, Mr Galliano denied he was racist or anti-Semitic.

"All my life I have fought against prejudice, intolerance and discrimination, having been subjected to it myself," he said.

"I do not have these views and I have never held them."

'Complete denial'

Mr Galliano told the court he was "a recovering alcoholic, a recovering addict".

He said he began using alcohol and drugs in 2007 following the death of a close friend, and that their use had helped him to cope with the pressures of his job as creative director at Dior.

"After every creative high, I would crash and the alcohol helped me," he said.

He had been in "complete denial" about his addictions when he was arrested, he said which is why he did not tell the police at the time.

Earlier, Mr Galliano's defence lawyer Aurelian Hamelle, said his alcoholic and "pathological state" could be proved by medical testimony.

Aurelian Hamelle said his client wanted to "present his excuses to the people he offended", and to have the chance to "rebuild himself professionally and personally".

The designer has previously repeatedly apologised "unreservedly" for his behaviour and has sought treatment for his addictions.

'Thighs criticised'

Geraldine Bloch, a museum curator, is suing Mr Galliano over what she said was a tirade of anti-Semitic abuse that lasted 45 minutes.

She told the court he had mocked her appearance and clothing during the February incident, and that the word "Jewish" was "one of the most recurrent".

"The tone was not at all funny. I didn't laugh at any time. There was no humour," the AFP news agency quoted her as saying.

Ms Bloch's lawyer, Yves Beddouk, earlier said Mr Galliano had "assaulted her, not only as a woman, by criticising the texture of her hair, by criticising her thighs, and by criticising the way she was dressed".

Ms Bloch "did not even know who John Galliano was at the time of the incident", he said.

Another woman has made similar accusations about an incident in October.

But a British teacher who witnessed the incident involving Ms Bloch told the court she did not hear Mr Galliano say anything racist and that the exchange had been "totally overblown", the Associated Press reports.

Mr Galliano was sacked by Dior after footage of the third incident emerged.

All incidents are alleged to have taken place at La Perle cafe in the Marais district of Paris.

Mr Galliano took over the creative helm of Dior in 1996 and has won British Fashion Designer of the Year on four occasions.

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