Bishop Eamon Casey admitted to Nursing Home

scholar007 · 31-08-2011 03:22PM #1

Bishop Eamon Casey has been admitted to a Clare Nursing Home due to ill health.
According to a report in today's Irish Examiner, the former Bishop of Galway, Kilmacdaugh and Kilfenora was admitted last week for respite care.
It's understood the bishop is hoping to return to his home in Shanaglish in Gort as quickly as possible.

http://www.galwaynews.ie/21285-bishop-casey-admitted-clare-nursing-home

I hope Bishop Casey is up and about soon. He is still very much loved and respected in Galway.

beeintheknow · 31-08-2011 04:19PM

Thanks for speaking on behalf of all of the people of Galway.

For my own part I do not love or respect the man.

central park · 31-08-2011 05:49PM

Yes give the man a break!

Uriel. · 31-08-2011 05:53PM

beeintheknow wrote: »

Thanks for speaking on behalf of all of the people of Galway.

For my own part I do not love or respect the man.

To be fair I don't see where the OP claimed to speak "on behalf of ALL the people of Galway.

Like I feel for most of the human race, I wish no ill will on the Bishop, but have no partciular feelings toward him.

scholar007 · 31-08-2011 09:32PM

"Thanks for speaking on behalf of all of the people of Galway.

For my own part I do not love or respect the man."

My post in no way implies that I was speaking on behalf of all the people in Galway. I said "He is still very much loved and respected in Galway."

I grew up in Galway and met him a few times, when he was Bishop and my experience is that he is a good decent man. I would be fairly confident that there are a few others out there who would agree.

fergiesfolly · 31-08-2011 11:03PM

Don't wish any harm on the man, but I have absolutely no respect for him whatsoever. Man lived a lie for a large portion of his life and wouldn't have come clean about his private life if he hadn't been found out.
I have to admit I had a hard time taking him seriously as a man of the cloth, considering his lifestyle, even before his past came back to haunt him.

EGAR · 31-08-2011 11:05PM

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Don't wish any harm on the man, but I have absolutely no respect for him whatsoever. Man lived a lie for a large portion of his life and wouldn't have come clean about his private life if he hadn't been found out.
I have to admit I had a hard time taking him seriously as a man of the cloth, considering his lifestyle, even before his past came back to haunt him.

Same as that.

ErnieBert · 31-08-2011 11:08PM

He had sex with a woman and she had his child. That is human nature. He didn't break the law. The sex was consensual according to the mother of the boy.

However, the allegations that he took money to pay for welfare of his son, were never brought to court. Had he been found guilty in a Court, he would have been sent to prison.

fergiesfolly · 31-08-2011 11:23PM

And if he was half the man his adoring public thought he was, he would have stood up, told the world what had happened, resigned his ministry and taken better care of his child.
But no. He hid his "dirty" secret and accepted the praise and applause of a public that followed his every word and deed with blind devotion.
The people of Galway thought he walked on water and at the end of the day, he was more concerned about his image than doing the right thing.

dec25532 · 31-08-2011 11:28PM

beeintheknow wrote: »

Thanks for speaking on behalf of all of the people of Galway.

For my own part I do not love or respect the man.

Even aside from the Annie Murphy scandal (at least it was more acceptable that the clerical child abuse inflicted by priests who are still allowed to say Mass) I found him to be an arrogant and pompous man when he was Bishop of Galway, socialised with the so-called great and good of the city before he was found out and was then banished. Had no respect for him either.

baldbear · 01-09-2011 12:07AM

Casey was a good representative for the hypocrital catholic church.

When the story about his kid came out he was sent to South America like a convict. Typical of the catholic curch, hide the story and sweep it under the carpet.

Its just a pity he didn't have the guts to come out years ago and tell his story. I'v a kid, so what???

I still wish the man well though. Its a tough illness he has.

01-09-2011 12:11AM

Meh. If only what he did was the worst scandal to come out of the church.

(While he was Bishop of Kerry he fathered a child with an American woman who had come to Ireland to recover from a marriage breakup for those too young to remember, he went on to become Bishop of Galway and resigned when it came out in the press http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/passion-play-that-shocked-a-nation-2841956.html)

realdanbreen · 01-09-2011 12:14AM

dec25532 wrote: »

Even aside from the Annie Murphy scandal (at least it was more acceptable that the clerical child abuse inflicted by priests who are still allowed to say Mass) I found him to be an arrogant and pompous man when he was Bishop of Galway, socialised with the so-called great and good of the city before he was found out and was then banished. Had no respect for him either.

I never met the man but I am aware of the incredible work he did in London for the Irish who found themselves down on their luck.

kraggy · 01-09-2011 01:31AM

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Don't wish any harm on the man, but I have absolutely no respect for him whatsoever. Man lived a lie for a large portion of his life and wouldn't have come clean about his private life if he hadn't been found out.
I have to admit I had a hard time taking him seriously as a man of the cloth, considering his lifestyle, even before his past came back to haunt him.

It's much easier nowadays to come out about certain aspects of your life. He had little choice but to live the lie. Times were very different back then. If you think he should have grown a pair and come out and admitted he had an affair and fathered a child etc, then you must be very young and not understand the atmostphere in society back then.

It was similar to the difficulties gay people had back then also. The fear of being talked about, treated differently, embarassing the family etc.

The theft of diocesan money for me was the biggest offence. Not fathering a child because he followed up on his natural attraction towards a woman.

Main point of the whole thing is: priests should be allowed marry/have sexual relations with others, both men and women. End of. There is not one single rational reason for them not being allowed to.

Head The Wall · 01-09-2011 07:56AM

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Don't wish any harm on the man, but I have absolutely no respect for him whatsoever. Man lived a lie for a large portion of his life and wouldn't have come clean about his private life if he hadn't been found out.
I have to admit I had a hard time taking him seriously as a man of the cloth, considering his lifestyle, even before his past came back to haunt him.

You sound like a supporter of the church in fairness. What he did was nothing compared to the rest of the child rapists and the rest of them that facilitated those b*stards.
Your comments say a lot about your train of thought, hypocritical and close minded just like the church

Why was he the one banished? It's as if the church condone raping kids.

I'm not religious either so its not a case of me standing up for Casey, I understand human nature i.e sex with adults which is a concept the church seem to have trouble grasping

realdanbreen · 01-09-2011 08:36AM

Head The Wall wrote: »

You sound like a supporter of the church in fairness. What he did was nothing compared to the rest of the child rapists and the rest of them that facilitated those b*stards.
Your comments say a lot about your train of thought, hypocritical and close minded just like the church

Why was he the one banished? It's as if the church condone raping kids.

I'm not religious either so its not a case of me standing up for Casey, I understand human nature i.e sex with adults which is a concept the church seem to have trouble grasping

While all sane people would condemn the 'child rapists' as you call them, its worst bearing in mind that 90% of abuse takes place in the family home.

Bosco boy · 01-09-2011 08:47AM

If he had been in the church of Ireland, he could have had an open relationship with her, they could have married and he could have been around for his child. This would have been totally acceptable to all of the public wherever they would live and work. Instead he was cast out quicker than most abusers. I think it's the antiquated church more than him that should be ridiculed. He's an old man who fell in love with someone he shouldn't have in the circumstances and got into a mess and made bad decisions in trying to deal with it out of the public eye. As they say "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone"

Beggared · 01-09-2011 08:57AM

Hands the Virgin Mary a big pointy rock and sends her to Galway...

nuac · 01-09-2011 09:29AM

C asey did a lot of work for the emigrants in London.

He was popular in Galway.

I wonder if instead of leaving suddenly he had 'fessed up publicly in Galway and stood his ground whether his parishioners would have accepted
and forgiven him.

Wishing him a speedy recovery

biko · 01-09-2011 10:15AM

Let's leave the general discussion about pedos and church kids for another time/forum. This thread is about Bishop Casey

A bit of background for overseas guests

In 1992 newspapers discovered that Casey had had a sexual relationship with Annie Murphy, an American divorcée. Together they had a son, Peter, born in 1974 in Dublin. Murphy later claimed that, during the pregnancy, Casey had attempted to persuade her to give the child up for adoption at birth. She chose not to do so and raised him with the help of her parents. When Murphy decided to go public about the relationship and informed The Irish Times, Casey tendered his resignation and left the country. She later published a book, Forbidden Fruit, in 1993 revealing details of their relationship.

Casey then chose to embrace the life of a foreign missionary in South America. He worked with members of the Missionary Society of St. James to work in a rural parish in Ecuador, despite his lack of knowledge of the Spanish language. During this time, he would travel long distances to reach the widely scattered members of his parish. After his missionary stint was up, instead of returning to Ireland, Casey chose to work in a parish in England.

Casey's resignation is widely regarded as a pivotal moment when the Roman Catholic hierarchy began to lose its considerable influence over the society and politics of the Republic of Ireland. Casey was succeeded by his Secretary Bishop James McLoughlin, who served in the post until his own retirement on 3 July 2005. The following year, weeks after the death of Irish priest Father Michael Cleary, The Phoenix broke a story about his nearly 30-year-relationship with Phyllis Hamilton, with whom he had two sons. They allowed their first son to be adopted, but raised the second together in their household. Hamilton ostensibly was Cleary's housekeeper during the years of their relationship.

In subsequent years, serious sexual crimes involving other Irish priests have become known. Because they involved the sexual abuse of children, the scandal around these exceeded that around Casey's and Cleary's cases.

He is the subject of Martin Egan's song "Casey", sung by Christy Moore. He is also the subject of the Saw Doctors song "Howya Julia". On 20 January 2006, newspapers announced that Casey would be returning to Ireland

scholar007 · 01-09-2011 10:49AM

Bosco boy wrote: »

As they say "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone"

My sentiments exactly. There are too many people out there, who in order to feel good about themselves, rush to judge others.

c_man · 01-09-2011 10:59AM

The man is a complete and utter hypocrite but ultimately owing to the heinous revelations which followed I think most Catholics view his misdemeanours at minor.

Kinda mad that the Times rang him before printing the story, he asked for publication to be delayed so he could flee and they agreed. It's not that long ago the Catholic church still held such sway.

ScumLord · 01-09-2011 12:33PM

fergiesfolly wrote: »

But no. He hid his "dirty" secret

That's not a very nice way of describing a child. It's not the childs fault his father carried out a basic function of every living creature.

fergiesfolly · 01-09-2011 12:41PM

Head The Wall wrote: »

You sound like a supporter of the church in fairness. What he did was nothing compared to the rest of the child rapists and the rest of them that facilitated those b*stards.
Your comments say a lot about your train of thought, hypocritical and close minded just like the church

Why was he the one banished? It's as if the church condone raping kids.

I'm not religious either so its not a case of me standing up for Casey, I understand human nature i.e sex with adults which is a concept the church seem to have trouble grasping

I am not in any way a supporter of the Catholic Church.
And why some posters on here try and excuse his actions by comparing them to the heinous crime of child rape is beyond me. What he did was wrong and just because the actons of other members of the Church were worse, does not mean his actions can be excused or downplayed.
And if, as some posters said, he was just a natural MAN behind the cassock, did he not MAN up, refuse to hide behind the Church and accept the consequences of his actions. Maybe, because, he's not much of a man after all?
I met him on a couple of occasions, before his controversial downfall and he came accross as a pompous, self important hypocrite, who enjoyed the celebrity his role in the Church gave him.
Eammon Casey is(supposedly) a man of God and should have been more concerned about the morality of his actions than the loss of the public respect that might have come about by any revelations of his past.
Ireland was a different place twenty years ago, but a man in his position, coming clean about his past and asking forgiveness, might have helped accelerate the changes that this society were painfully slow to make.

Mrs OBumble · 01-09-2011 01:06PM

"Elderly Galway man admitted to nursing home in Clare" ... it's hardly news.

I hope things go ok for him - but I hope the same thing for every other elderly people in the same situation, no matter whether they were a public servant (lazy person who never did any work?), banker (theif?), property developer(builder of dodgy houses?), cigarette-salesperson (drug dealer?) stay-at-home-mother (saint?) ... etc.

squonk · 01-09-2011 01:08PM

beeintheknow wrote: »

Thanks for speaking on behalf of all of the people of Galway.

For my own part I do not love or respect the man.

You're entitled to your opinion of course but as the man is unwell, if there was a thumbs down button, I'd be pressing it for your post sir!

Spacedog · 01-09-2011 01:16PM

Might I remind you all what this man did,

He has sex with a WOMAN and covered up for years!
He stuck his penis right in her vagina for Christs sake!

This man is evil to the core and deserves no sympathy from any of our child abuse limited liability tax paying asses.

squonk · 01-09-2011 01:34PM

I met Eamon Casey several times growing up from when I was about 7 until 17. I found him to be a very kind man and great craic to be around. He was the bishop who confirmed me and I can remember my confirmation as being a fun event, largely down to him. There was no pomposity, no formality and everyone felt at ease. Infact, that's how I'd describe all of the interactions I had with him. I'm quite surprised that some people here seem to think the opposite. I wonder if your opinions formed after the fact as events about him came out.

I was the last group of students he spoke to before he stepped down. He came to my school to give a talk to my Leaving Cert class. The news came out a few days later and he resigned. He gave a great talk to us that day and, as per usual, we all enjoyed ourselves and enjoyed hearing what he had to say. Again, it was a relaxed, informal gathering and it didn't really feel like we were being lectured to by the local bishop, in fact I can remember more formality when the local Parish Priest visited the school.

Hiding sexual affairs and especially children fathered by the clergy was the done thing at that stage. It might have been the early 90's but a lot of people still were not ready to accept that any great wrong could be done by the church. A priest in my area was having an ongoing affair with one of my teachers at that time so we knew it was happening. After the Casey revelations came out I didn't really bat much of an eyelid. It did explain in some way why the priest involved with our teacher was still in place as I'd have guessed that if Casey did know, he was hardly in any position to insist on any great punishment for the priest in question.

In any event, I considered Casey to be a good man fundamentally and he had just fathered a child which, in my book, wasn't exactely a hanging offence. I firmly believe that priests/nuns should be allowed to marry if they wish and to have children. At the time none of the later revalations surrounding child abuse had surfaced. Time does make the Casey affair appear pretty tame but my opinion hasn't changed too much from that day back in 1992 when he resigned. We all make mistakes. People also cover up their mistakes for various reasons and Casey covered up his. I don't know the ins and outs of maintenance for the child but he should certainly have been paying some I think. Beyond that I still hold him in very high regard. He's the best Bishop of Galway that I can remember. Bishop McLoughlin was a good man but had none of Casey's charisma and I actually have scant regard for Drennan who refused to step down amid allegations he was involved in covering up abuse. I wish Bishop Casey the best of health and many more years ahead of him.

scholar007 · 01-09-2011 02:40PM

squonk wrote: »

I actually have scant regard for Drennan who refused to step down amid allegations he was involved in covering up abuse.

My understanding is the Bishop Drennan did nothing when the allegations of abuse in the Dublin archdiocese surfaced (correct me if Im wrong). There are people like that when faced with decisions, they will tip to touch time and again and hope the issue goes away.

I really think Bishop Drennan should get out and connect with the people more. Bishop Casey was always out and about and was a very visible presence at the annual Novena where he spoke every year.

I don't see much of Bishop Drennan at the Novena or anywhere else for that matter. Bishop McLaughlin (RIP) was a good kind man too, but Bishop Casey is definitely a hard act to follow.

ScumLord · 01-09-2011 02:44PM

fergiesfolly wrote: »

What he did was wrong and just because the actons of other members of the Church were worse, does not mean his actions can be excused or downplayed.

And if, as some posters said, he was just a natural MAN behind the cassock, did he not MAN up, refuse to hide behind the Church and accept the consequences of his actions. Maybe, because, he's not much of a man after all?

Eammon Casey is(supposedly) a man of God and should have been more concerned about the morality of his actions than the loss of the public respect that might have come about by any revelations of his past

I'm still struggling to see what he did that was immoral. Sure he lied but he lied in the same way a gay man would have had to have lied to avoid the scorn of the pig headed in society. He had sex and he had a child. There's nothing wrong with that.

who the fug · 01-09-2011 02:46PM

The only problem I have with him is the money, his child was not the responsability of the Diocess.

Other than that have alway heard mostly good things about him, except for people in London

Bishop Eamon Casey admitted to Nursing Home

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