The purpose of this page is to present a chronological account of the development of the current crisis in the Irish Catholic Church. 

When exactly that crisis began is debatable.  We choose to begin the story in 1965, with the ending of Vatican II - the last ecumenical council of the church, attended by most of the Catholic bishops of that era. The 'updating' of the church called for by Vatican II could have included a new relationship between clergy and people, and a radical change in the culture and structure of the Irish church - involving the formal convening of the Irish laity to assume a new, adult role. 

That this did not happen meant that Irish Catholic families remained powerless and unrepresented in a church whose clergy retained great and unquestionable social prestige and influence, and whose bishops had conflicting responsibilities and no accountability.

This set the scene for the catastrophe that followed, beginning in 1992 with the flight of Bishop Eamonn Casey of Galway from Ireland - to avoid media attention following the revelation that he had fathered a son eighteen years previously and at one point used church funds to support him.

(Continuing work on this page will provide links from each episode to pages providing further detail.  It will be continually updated to include later developments as they occur.)

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1965   Vatican Council II ends.

1968   'Humanae Vitae' - A controversial encyclical on birth control.

1968-1984 The failure of reform.

1984   A dean of Maynooth loses his post.

1985   A warning from the US:  Tom Doyle.

1987   An important government circular warning of the criminal nature of child sexual abuse.

1987   Catholic bishops take out insurance against liability for damages caused by clerical child sex abuse.

1987   A synod on the laity - without input from the laity.  Pobal's experience.

1992   The first major Irish Catholic sex scandal - Bishop Eamonn Casey.

1994   UTV's Suffer Little Children - the first Catholic clerical child sex abuse scandal - Brendan Smyth (April).

1994   The first senior Irish clerical casualty of the crisis - Abbot Kevin Smith of Kilnacrott (October).

1995   The Church's insurers take fright.

1996   The Stewardship Trust and the bishops' first guidelines for dealing with clerical child sex abuse.

1999   RTE's 'States of Fear' deepens the crisis (27/04).

1999   Pope John Paul II calls Ireland's bishops to introduce 'structures of belonging' for the church in Ireland (08/07).  This call has so far not been acted on by most Irish bishops.

2000   Irish State sets up Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.

2002   Voice of the Faithful founded in Boston following revelations of Cardinal Bernard Law's negligence.

2002   BBC TV's 'Suing the Pope' spotlights abuse in the diocese of Ferns (April) : A bishop resigns.

2002   RTE's 'Cardinal Sin' reveals the scale of abuse in the Dublin archdiocese (October).

2003   Irish State sets up Ferns Inquiry (March).

2005   The Ferns Inquiry Report is published.

2006   Irish hierarchy publish 'Our Children, Our Church'.

2008   December 19th. The NBSC finds the diocese of Cloyne in breach of child safeguarding guidelines.

2009   March 7th Bishop John Magee stands down as Bishop of Cloyne

2009   May  20 The Ryan Report reveals a horrifying picture of abuse in state-financed Catholic institutions for poor children in the 20th century.

2009  Nov 26  The Murphy Report reveals a cover up by four archbishops of clerical child sex abuse in Dublin archdiocese in the period 1975-2004.

2009  Dec 9  The Irish Catholic Bishops Conference declares that the cover up 'culture' was 'widespread' in the church in that period.

2009 Dec 11  A papal communiqué promises a pastoral letter for the Irish church in 2010.  Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and Cardinal Sean Brady declare that this will lead to a reorganisation of the Irish Catholic Church.

2009 Dec 17-24  Four Irish bishops resign in the wake of the Murphy Report

VOTF™
Mission Statement

To provide a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit, through which the Faithful can actively participate in the governance and guidance of the Catholic Church.

Our Goals

2. To support priests of integrity

3.To shape structural change within the Catholic Church.

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