Cardinal Brady apologises to abuse victim Brendan Boland, Brendan Boland welcomes Cardinal Seán Brady apology

[news reporter]

"If the right thing had been done by Father (now Cardinal) Brady, and
Bishop McKiernan, the unspeakable abuse of the other children I had
sought to save would not have happened."



Cardinal Brady apologises to abuse victim Brendan Boland 7 May 2012

Cardinal Sean Brady has said he wants to personally apologise to a man
who was abused as a 14-year-old boy by paedophile priest Brendan
Smyth.

Cardinal Brady has come under pressure after a BBC documentary.

It accused him of failing to act on abuse allegations when he was a
priest.

He said he had no intention of stepping aside but hoped an assistant -
with succession rights - would be quickly appointed to his
archdiocese.

Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTE on Monday, Cardinal Brady said he
wanted to "apologise without hesitation" to Brendan Boland "and to any
victim".

"I offered that apology last Christmas, I offered to come and see him
in person," he said.....

Last week, a BBC documentary uncovered new revelations about an
internal Church investigation into clerical child sex abuse in 1975.

It said a teenage boy who had been sexually abused by Fr Brendan Smyth
gave the names and addresses of other children who were at risk from
the paedophile priest to Cardinal Brady, who at that time was a 36-
year-old priest.

He passed the allegations to his superiors but did not inform the
police or the children's parents.

Fr Smyth continued to sexually assault one of the boys for a year
after that.

He also abused the boy's sister for seven years, and four of his
cousins, up until 1988.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17984642



Brendan Boland welcomes Cardinal Seán Brady apology

Tuesday, 8 May 2012

Brendan Boland who, as a 14-year-old boy, was sworn to secrecy by
Cardinal Seán Brady after testifying that he had been sexually abused
by the paedophile Fr Brendan Smyth, has welcomed the Cardinal's public
apology to him....

Mr Boland added: “I note that Cardinal Brady has now acknowledged that
the information I gave him regarding other children being abused or at
risk of abuse, should have been passed on to their parents in 1975.

“When I confided in the Youth Club to Father McShane in 1975, he did
the right and proper thing in immediately bringing me to my parents
and telling them what had been happening to me. It was only after
that, that he informed his Superiors.

“If the right thing had been done by Father (now Cardinal) Brady, and
Bishop McKiernan, the unspeakable abuse of the other children I had
sought to save would not have happened. Both Cardinal Brady and I will
have to live with our guilt in that regard."
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0508/brendan-boland-welcomes-cardinal-brady-apology.html