The Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin has claimed that as it is not a legal entity, no claims can be made against it arising from alleged child sex abuse by one of its priests.
The position has been adopted by the Archdiocese in response to a case being taken by two sisters who say they were abused by Father Noel Reynolds.
The Archdiocese has also denied it was the employer of Father Reynolds, a self-confessed child sex abuser (now deceased), or had any supervisory role in relation to him.
It has also claimed that Cardinal Desmond Connell is not responsible in law for any alleged wrongful actions by the priest.
Lawyers for the two sisters taking the case say they are upset at the position being adopted by the Archdiocese, and the delays since their case began in 2001, especially as in public statements the Catholic Church has said it would deal expeditiously and sympathetically with abuse cases where there was clear evidence.
Asked about the case, the Archdiocese said: "Each case is dealt with on its own merits and in accordance with the legal principles applicable. It would not be appropriate for the Diocese to comment upon the legal issues involved in any particular case."
Father Reynolds, who died in April 2002, had admitted abusing the two sisters who in December 2001 initiated the legal action against him and Cardinal Connell which has prompted this response from the archdiocese.
According to sources the archdiocese is claiming that as the Cardinal was not Archbishop when the alleged abuses took place (in the early 1970s) he has no legal responsibility for them or for any possible default therein on the part of any of his predecessors.
It is claimed he had no knowledge of the abuses alleged or the consequences for the two women concerned and has asked that these be proved. Even if they can be proved the archdiocese has contended they had nothing to do with Cardinal Connell or anyone responsible to him.
The sisters taking the action claim Father Reynolds abused them in their home, beginning when one was six and the other seven. There is a five year age gap the sisters. The abuse, which it is claimed was extensive and involved force, is alleged to have continued until the sisters were 12 and 14 respectively, with a two year overlap when both claim they were being abused by the priest.
The archdiocese has also said that the wrongs alleged against Father Reynolds were criminal acts and as such were not a part of his duties. The sisters were entitled to no compensation from it, it has said.
Responding to queries from The Irish Times, solicitors for the two sisters expressed "deep dismay" at the attitude of the Dublin archdiocese in this case. (The sisters and law firm want to be anonymous.)
The sisters "have already had to endure long delays in their case being dealt with and are extremely upset at the position now being adopted by the Archdiocese. The Church authorities have sought to give the impression that all cases of sexual abuse being brought against members of the clergy that contained irrefutable evidence were to be dealt with sympathetically and expeditiously."
In 1999 Father Noel Reynolds admitted to the abuse of more than 100 children in eight parishes of the archdiocese. In a separate interview with the mother of the two sisters taking the action he also admitted - in the presence of another priest - abusing her two daughters.
After a series of complaints against him the priest was moved to serve as chaplain at the National Rehabilitation Institute in Dún Laoghaire. Eleven months later, in May 1998, his service there ended.
In a statement on October 18th last, following the Cardinal Secrets programme broadcast on RTÉ's Prime Time the previous night, Cardinal Connell said of Father Reynolds: "Having retired from his appointment as parish priest of Glendalough on health grounds, Father Noel Reynolds was appointed chaplain to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in 1997.
"We sincerely regret not informing the hospital authorities about concerns expressed regarding Father Reynolds in 1995. These concerns related to his inappropriate behaviour with children.
"We fully accept that we should have informed the hospital authorities about the concerns raised at the time of his appointment. The first complaint of child sexual abuse was made against Father Reynolds in 1998. He was then removed from ministry," he said.
Father Reynolds died as a result of a heart condition on April 29th, 2002.
Cardinal Connell, in a more general response on October 18th last to that Prime Time programme and its revelations concerning clerical child sex abuse in the Dublin archdiocese, said "incalculable harm has been done to those who were abused . . . We have been slow to understand the depth of their trauma and the nature of their needs."
