The former Bishop of Ferns, Brendan Comiskey, has died at the age of 89.

Dr Comisky famously resigned in April 2002 over revelations of his failure to address allegations of clerical sex abuse in the Diocese of Ferns.

He stepped down in the wake of a BBC documentary called ‘Suing the Pope’, created in part by Colm O’Gorman, who himself had been a victim of sexual assault by Father Sean Fortune, one of the priests of that diocese.

Fr Sean Fortune, who committed suicide while awaiting trial.

Following his resignation, the Ferns report was secured.

In 2005, it revealed that for decades, hundreds of children had been sexually assaulted by priests who ultimately answered to Dr Comiskey while he was Bishop of Ferns.

Mr O’Gorman told The Hard Shoulder that Dr Comiskey was, without a doubt, negligent in his duties.

“It's been established that he was negligent because the Diocese of Ferns acknowledged that in a statement read into the High Court in Dublin in 2003 when they settled my case suing them for that negligence and for the harm caused for me on foot of it,” he said.

“So, he was definitely negligent in a legal context.”

However, Mr O’Gorman said there was nothing unique about Dr Comiskey’s behaviour within the context of the Catholic Church.

“One of the things I'm concerned about is that history will be rewritten in a way that suggests that Brendan Comiskey was uniquely culpable or that he was incompetent or that he failed to manage abuse,” he said.

“That's not the case. I mean, what Brendan Comiskey did, largely, was he implemented the directives of the Vatican.

“That required the cover-up of these cases, the enforcement of absolute secrecy in cases that Bishops became aware of.

“Victims, witnesses, others were sworn to the pontifical secret, which is the highest level of secrecy in Church-run investigations that were put in place - the penalty for breach of that was excommunication.”

Historic culture

According to Mr O’Gorman, Dr Comiskey’s failings were representative of a historic culture within the Catholic Church.

“I don't think it was cowardice, nor do I think it was a lack of appreciation or understanding of child sexual abuse and its impact,” he said.

“Despite everything that Cardinals and Bishops and Popes have been telling us since the mid-1990s... the Church has a very detailed and long-standing understanding of the nature of paedophilia.”

Mr O’Gorman said Dr Comiskey shouldn’t be “uniquely scapegoated for following the Church's rules”, but that he is still responsible for his decision not to question the system he was a part of.

Anyone who has been impacted by abuse can contact the charity One in Four on 01 66 24070 for information on their counselling services.

Main image: Bishop of Ferns Brendan Comiskey at a Mass in Dublin. Photo: Eamonn Farrell/© RollingNews.ie