The Jesuit Order’s decision to name three priests who were accused of child sex abuse should encourage more survivors to come forward, according to the One-in-Four charity.

A report, published by the Jesuits yesterday, disclosed that they received child sexual abuse complaints against 44 priests between 1945 and late last year.

Half the priests had more than one complaint made against them.

The majority of the reports allege the abuse occurred at three Jesuit schools - Belvedere College in Dublin, Crescent College in Limerick and Clongowes Wood College in Kildare.

One-in-Four CEO Maeve Lewis told Newstalk Breakfast that there is nothing surprising about the high number of abuse reports.

She said the striking thing about yesterday’s report was the decision to name some of the priests accused of child sexual abuse.

“I think we all knew about Joseph Marmion but they do name two other priests, Paul Andrews and Dermot Casey, both of whom were, at one stage, directors of St Declan’s Special School, where they were in charge of some very vulnerable children,” she said.

“What again is different, I suppose, about this report is the Jesuits don't pull any punches.

“They detail exactly the mistakes they made and their failure to act on allegations.

“For example, at one stage Paul Andrews was actually investigating an allegation against Dermot Casey.

“They are quite transparent in acknowledging the very, very poor care they had for child protection and I suppose the concern that their failure to act resulted in other children being sexually abused.”

Child sexual abuse

The report notes that the order has received 93 complaints of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse against Fr Joseph Marmion relating to his time at the three schools between 1951 and 1978.

It also notes that a child sexual abuse complaint was made against Fr Paul Andrews in 1991 and was then repeated in 1994.

Fr Andrews was the person who received the first complaint against Fr Marmion and was director St Declan’s Special School from 1977 until the end of 1994.

The order also received 17 child sexual abuse complaints against his predecessor in the role, Fr Dermot Casey.

Survivors

Ms Lewis said she hopes the decision to name the priests will encourage other survivors to come forward.

“Let's not forget Paul Andrews was a child psychologist; he was offering counselling to children who were already in trouble,” she said.

“So, you know, his access to vulnerable children was quite extraordinary and that continued long after the first allegations were made.

“They decided to name those two men in the hopes of encouraging other survivors to come forward, which again is in contrast to the way, perhaps, some other congregations have handled these matters.

“They do have in place a committee of experts to look at naming other Jesuit priests who are now deceased again in the hopes of encouraging survivors to come forward.

“So, I mean, that is that is very positive.”

Ms Lewis said the Jesuits should be commended for their transparency, while also acknowledging the, “terrible failures to deal with allegations in the past and indeed right up to the noughties”.

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If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article you can contact the One-in-Four helpline on 01 662 4070.

Main image shows the entrance to Belvedere College in Dublin, 02-07-2022. Image: Noel Bennett/Alamy