President of St Patrick's College Maynooth Monsignor Hugh Connolly says that the seminary has a robust complaints procedure already in place, but that they are looking at ways of improving procedures.
He told RTE’s Today with Sean O’Rourke show that the independent complaints body represents best practice. It contains no clerics and is made up of lay people, who come from law enforcement, from safeguarding and from arbitration and adjudication.
He was speaking after Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin decided to stop sending seminarians from the Dublin Archdiocese to St Patrick’s College in Maynooth.
It follows anonymous allegations being circulated about seminarian activities in Maynooth, including that some had been using a gay dating app.
The College has in recent days said it was “not true that seminarians are prohibited from reporting misbehaviour or concerns”.
Speaking on Friday Msgr Connolly said it was “so important that they (seminarians) know there is a panel and people with the skills who can look at this and who are nothing to do with the seminary. They are not employees of the college.”
Seminarians are informed of the independent complaints body at the beginning of the academic year, he said and details are on the seminary website. Mons Connolly also said that he took the step of emailing every seminarian to make them aware of the procedure.
He said he did not believe there was a gay subculture within the seminary. “As soon as something like that comes to our attention we will challenge the individual who is living in a non celibate way.
“A culture of fear is not compatible with seminary life and we do everything we can to make the culture one that is open and honest and where a person very honestly prepares for a celibate lifestyle.
“Clearly if anyone is not living celibately they shouldn’t be in the seminary, very simply there is no reason for anyone to be in formation preparing for a celibate way of life if they are not being celibate.
“We did get some very difficult stuff to process this year where names were said in anonymous letters. We actually brought this to every single person named in those anonymous letters. We gave them a very clear and very robust opportunity both to engage with us and to tell the truth, which I’m sure they did.
“It was difficult to go back because in the best situation where you have a complaint you then have an opportunity to go back to the complainant - to ask could you please expand on some of the points you made, it’s so difficult when it is a terse line which says baldly something in one sentence.
“So it’s very difficult to challenge a person around that, but we did do that and we also made a full report to our trustees,” he said.
Dublin seminary
On Thursday Dr Martin has said he would favour the establishment of a new seminary in Dublin for the formation of priests. Dr Martin said he had been looking at a site for a new seminary but it was not yet ready.
Dr Martin told The Irish Times he believed the climate in Maynooth was not that of a “serene and tranquil setting suitable for ordinary students” .
Regarding the allegations about Maynooth, he said he had “a very strong view on anonymity”.
“The grapevine is infallible but you may not always be able to substantiate it,” he said, adding that he had “ very little respect for those who don’t stand by their allegations in public”.
Due process
Dr Martin said rumour, gossip and allegations had “to be taken seriously. We have an obligation to try to see what the allegations are saying while also respecting due process.”
He also emphasised that his comments about seminarians using the gay dating smartphone app Grindr applied to all dating apps, gay or heterosexual. They were “instruments for promiscuous sex, for casual sex, which is not on for seminarians”, he said.
He said he would like to see seminarians living in a smaller community from where they could be assigned to parishes in Dublin, “linked to a particular parish while continuing their studies.
Realistic preparation
Dr Martin felt this would be a more realistic preparation for a life of service in the archdiocese. They could still study theology at Maynooth, recalling how people commute to Dublin from places as far away as Portlaoise every day.
Such formation would be “less institutional, less comfortable, more realistic than you can do in Maynooth”, he said.
However, if agreement could be reached between Maynooth, Milltown and the Loyola Institute at Trinity College in Dublin, it might not be necessary for the seminarians to leave the city to study theology, he said.
Dr Martin remarked on the “amazing sensitivity” of reactions to his decision to send three seminarians to the Irish College in Rome.
He had informed his fellow trustee bishops at Maynooth about this “way back”, but that it had taken “2½ months” to emerge.
As of Thursday night, the other 25 Catholic dioceses in Ireland said their bishops would continue sending seminarians to Maynooth, with some also going to the Irish College in Rome.