Irish cardinal gets court order to stop inquiry into abuse papers

Published: 2008-02-05

DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) -- The retired archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, has taken legal action to prevent a government commission from examining documents related to allegations of the clerical sexual abuse of children. In January, Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin provided the commission with documents relating to claims of child abuse against a representative sample of 46 Dublin archdiocesan priests. However, Cardinal Connell's lawyers said in court that Archbishop Martin did not have the power to release some of the documents because they related to correspondence between the cardinal and lawyers and an insurance company covered by legal privilege and client confidentiality. The cardinal secured a temporary injunction in the High Court against the Commission of Investigation, a judicial body established by the Irish government in March 2006 to examine how allegations of clerical child abuse made between 1975 and 2004 were handled by the Dublin Archdiocese. The injunction originally was granted Jan. 31 and was renewed Feb. 4. A hearing for a full, permanent injunction had not been scheduled by Feb. 5.

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