Extensive investigation shows that the Vatican has officially dismissed the Irish bishop from public service

A comprehensive investigation has revealed that the Vatican officially removed former Bishop of Galway Eamonn Casey from public ministry in 2007 after multiple allegations of child sexual abuse were made against him.

Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets, a major RTÉ investigation conducted in association with the Mail on Sunday, airs on RTÉ One on Monday evenings at 9.35pm EST.

The documentary examines the Catholic Church’s handling of the abuse allegations against Bishop Casey and reveals that the Vatican decree stripping him of his public ministry was never made public during the bishop’s lifetime.

The documentary also examines how the Catholic Church received at least five allegations of child sexual abuse against Bishop Casey, including a complaint from his niece Patricia Donovan.

According to RTÉ News, the Diocese of Galway said that Bishop Martin Drennan, who was responsible for policing restrictions on members of the clergy, reprimanded Bishop Casey when the allegations came to light.

Bishop Casey remained bishop until his death in March 2017 and was never convicted of any sex crimes. During his lifetime, he always denied all allegations made against him.

However, a new joint investigation by RTÉ and the Mail on Sunday found that the Vatican had officially removed him from public office in 2007 because of the allegations against him.

Bishop Casey’s first accuser came forward in 2001, when he was working as a vicar in the British diocese of Arundel & Brighton.

The complaint was initially submitted to the Diocese of Limerick in Ireland, which forwarded it to Arundel & Brighton and the Vatican.

However, Arundel & Brighton confirmed that the report had inexplicably been lost and never reported to the British police. Bishop Casey subsequently remained in active ministry for four more years before returning to Ireland and retiring in 2006.

At least two other allegations were made against him at that time. The Attorney General decided not to prosecute Bishop Casey at that time, although the church investigation into the matter was still ongoing.

The upcoming documentary will reveal how the Vatican asked Bishop Casey in 2006 to “refrain from exercising his office publicly” before “officially” renewing that request a year later.

“He was never rehired… despite his insistence and despite all the demands made on his behalf,” the documentary states.

Rev. Aidan McGrath said in the documentary that restricting a clergyman’s ability to exercise his priestly office was a “serious matter.”

“And to do this in a formal way, I would interpret that to mean that the Congregation for Bishops, based on the complaints that have been received, has made some sort of decision with respect to Bishop Casey that he is not allowed to exercise his ministry publicly,” Father McGrath said in the documentary.

Rev. McGrath added that he believed an “official document” had been issued by the Vatican stating that the Pope had been informed.

“It would have listed the actual limitations on his office and the reasons for them. And this decree should have been communicated to the Pope because it concerned a bishop.”

Bishop Casey was forced to resign as Bishop of Galway in 1992 after fathering a child with American Annie Murphy.

The Vatican asked him to leave Ireland. Bishop Casey later became a missionary in South America before moving to Britain.

He died in March 2017 at the age of 89.