The trustees of Ireland’s national seminary have agreed to bring in a policy to protect whistleblowers after serious allegations were made about life in the college.
The statement followed a decision by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin to remove his students from St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, after publicly raising misgivings about the life and governance of the 221-year old institution.
The archbishop referred to claims of what he described as a “gay culture” in the seminary and further allegations that some seminarians have been using a gay dating app. Archbishop Martin said some of the allegations had been shown to be true.
The seminary trustees – 13 senior Irish bishops, including Archbishop Martin – said in a statement that “there is no place in a seminary community for any sort of behaviour or attitude which contradicts the teaching and example of Jesus Christ.”
The statement said the trustees “share the concerns about the unhealthy atmosphere created by anonymous accusations, together with some social media comments which can be speculative or even malicious.”
The trustees agreed to “review current policies and procedures for reporting complaints with a view to adopting best practice procedures for ‘protected disclosures’ [whistle-blowing]”.
They said they would ask the Irish bishops’ conference to conduct an independent audit and report of governance and statutes in the three Irish seminaries: Maynooth, the Pontifical Irish College in Rome and St Malachy’s College in Belfast. They also agreed to reassess future personnel and resource needs for the seminary.
The statement said “the trustees accept their responsibility for ensuring that the national seminary adheres to best practice in all areas of training for priesthood and that college staff are trained to the highest level in accordance with requisite professional standards and the requirements of the Holy See.”
Archbishop Martin raised concerns last month when he said “there seems to an atmosphere of strange goings-on [at Maynooth]; it seems like a quarrelsome place with anonymous letters being sent around.
“There are people saying that anyone who tries to go to the authorities with an allegation is being dismissed from the seminary,” he said.
Cardinal Sarah: reaction to my talk ‘not always accurate’
Cardinal Robert Sarah has said that comments he made at a conference in London this year were not always interpreted accurately.
In an address to clergy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the Vatican’s liturgy chief said his talk “received a lot of attention – some of it not always very accurate”.
During his address in July at the Sacra Liturgia conference, Cardinal Sarah asked priests to celebrate Mass facing east “wherever possible”. Both the Vatican and the Archbishop of Westminster issued statements distancing themselves from Cardinal Sarah’s comments.
In Sri Lanka, the cardinal reiterated the problems with celebrating Mass facing the people, saying that Mass had become too focused on the priest and the congregation, rather than God. He said: “In recent decades in some countries the sacred liturgy has become too anthropocentric; man, not Almighty God, has often become its focus.”
The cardinal added: “We do not come to the Church to celebrate what we have done or who we are. Rather, we come to celebrate and give thanks for all that Almighty God has done, and continues in His love and mercy to do, for us.”
Cafod hails end to 50-year war
The aid agency Cafod has welcomed a historic peace deal between the government and guerrilla rebels in Colombia.
The agreement was made last week in Havana, Cuba, where peace talks concluded after four years. Government troops and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) had been engaged in conflict for over 50 years. Clare Dixon, head of Cafod’s Latin American department, said the violence had “devastated the lives of over seven million people”.
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