Jesuit Provincial Fr Shane Daly has acknowledged the order was focused on “protecting the institution, protecting the good name of the individual, seems to have been key in our response over many decades that we wanted to protect the man.
"We wanted to protect the name of the institution, perhaps the name of our schools where much of this abuse occurred. And we did not take consideration of the children who had been harmed."
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s News at One, he said it was shocking to think that one man in particular Fr Patrick Kelly had moved from New York to California and then to Gardiner Street in Dublin and then Limerick.
“It is shocking to think that when Father Kelly's abuse was made known to the provincial in 1988 by a bishop in America where he was working, that he was allowed to go on to the west coast of America without even being brought home and questioned in relation to that.
“And again, it is shocking that we did not inform the authorities in the West Coast that these allegations had been made when Father Kelly was brought home or when further allegations were made. And Father Kelly was then charged in the US court and returned to Ireland. It was effectively kept quiet.
"Nobody was informed. He was moved to Gardiner Street and eventually he was put on restricted ministry, but on being moved to Limerick, the local superior there was not informed that he had been on a restricted ministry.
“There's no there's nothing to defend here in this in this action in the way Father Kelly's case was handled, except to admit now that we were totally cavalier in how we dealt with him.”
When asked if he expected more victims to come forward now that the list of 15 names has been released, Fr Daly said they hoped that more victims would come forward.
“The purpose of this naming exercise is to encourage people to come forward, not simply people who were harmed by these 15 individuals, but anybody who was harmed by a Jesuit, anybody who had an abusive encounter at the hands of a Jesuit. And we want them to come forward.
"We want to try and make amends for the awful failings and our very poor handling of events, more historically, when they were children, when those events were known to us and we didn't act.”
The Safeguarding Office had a range of options to help people who come forward, including financial redress through a redress scheme. They will also fund external counselling.
Since two individuals were named by the order last year, in light of the publication of the report into the abusive activities of Joseph Marmion, 70 people had contacted the Safeguarding Officer, said Fr Daly.
As a result of this the order became aware of 40 new encounters, some involving names not previously known, which was why they were naming the 15 deceased Jesuits in the hope of “empowering” more people to come forward.
Fr Daly said he had met a number of the victims and it had been a “very humbling experience.” There are a number of other individuals who are still alive and they will be “subject to the ordinary processes of the state, the legal processes and canonical processes.”
One in Four welcomes the publication of the Jesuit Order's report naming 15 priests against whom allegations of child sexual abuse have been made. By naming these Jesuits and acknowledging past failings, the Order has taken a step in the right direction.
CEO Deirdre Kenny says: "The report details the now familiar pattern of failures by a religious congregation to deal effectively with allegations of abuse against its members, placing other children at risk. However, we commend the Jesuit Order for acknowledging its failings and the decision to name these 15 priests in the hopes that this might encourage other survivors to come forward.
"Transparency is not just about naming abusers; it's about creating an environment where survivors feel believed, supported, and empowered to come forward. The delay in providing this openness will have, regrettably, prolonged the suffering of many."
