Irish Order Apologizes for Priest with 50-year Career of Abusing Minors

Ireland’s National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church released a report in May revealing that the Salvatorian order covered up for the sexual abuse committed by a priest called  “Father A,” according to Crux. During his 50-year career, the priest, revealed in the media to be the Rev. Patrick McDonagh, molested more than 100 girls between the ages of six and nine.

RTÉ News reported that McDonagh was accused of abusing the child of a relative in 2002, and he underwent treatment two years later, followed by a conviction in 2007. Nevertheless, the priest was then moved to Rome, where he still had access to children despite a professional opinion that he should be denied such access.

Also in May, the Salvatorians released an apology for the abuses committed by McDonagh, telling Catholic News Agency that the cover-ups were “a clear failure of the duty of our order to protect children.”