The Catholic Diocese of Waterford and Lismore has been asked to respond to comments from alleged victims of a defrocked priest.

A number of women have accused the Bishop of ‘gaslighting’ survivors and of giving a ‘distasteful’ and ‘condescending’ response to revelations about the abuse they allegedly suffered.

Safeguarding matters and policy implementation by the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinan have been subject to a continuing joint investigation by WLR and the Irish Mail on Sunday.

The former priest Michael O’Connor (84) is living in a Church-owned property on the grounds of St John’s College in Waterford city.

O’Connor was removed from the priesthood in 2024 following an internal Church inquiry after allegations initially surfaced in 1995.

The former president of St John College seminary and an ex captain of Waterford Golf Club has denied abusing children but admits drying off the naked bodies of some children he took swimming in 1972.

He has also admitted he was the subject of two separate Garda investigations, neither of which led to any charges being brought.

Bishop response:

Bishop Cullinan issued a statement on May 23rd in which he claimed the Diocese ‘did not engage publicly in detail at an earlier stage’ due to ‘safeguarding sensitivities’. He also criticised what he described as inaccurate reporting, without providing further specifics.

In his statement, the Bishop said: ‘The Diocese encourages any person with a safeguarding concern to report it without delay to the appropriate statutory and Church authorities.
‘The Diocese has always sought to treat complainants and survivors with respect, dignity and credibility. The voice of the survivor must always be heard and safeguarding matters must be approached with the utmost care, sensitivity and responsibility.’

Bishop Cullinan added the Diocese ‘does not intend to enter into further public commentary on this matter’.

More than a dozen specific questions to the Bishop and the Diocese about safeguarding procedures have not been answered directly.

And alleged victims of O’Connor have reacted angrily to the Bishop’s response.

One woman who claims she was abused as a child by O’Connor described the statement as ‘distasteful’ and a form of ‘gaslighting’.

She said. ‘It appears to be self-preservation for the Church over everything else. The Bishop criticised “public commentary” – as a victim I fully encourage public commentary, the more the better.
‘Too much has been buried over the last decades. And for the Bishop to use the phrase “retraumatising” is condescending to say the least. As if the abuse at the hands of a person ever leaves you… it’s always there.’

O’Connor has admitted he was interviewed by gardaí in two separate investigations in the past but the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) ultimately decided not to pursue the criminal case against him.

The alleged victim asked if ‘information used in initiating justifying his dismissal’ as part of the internal Church probe that resulted in his removal from the priesthood was passed on to gardaí, ‘and if not, why?’

She added: ‘Surely if it was serious enough to dismiss a priest, it should be in the hands of the gardaí? And if it was passed on to the gardaí, why has nothing been done?’

The statement by the Waterford and Lismore Diocese the weekend before last noted ‘O’Connor was removed from ministry in 1995 following allegations relating to historical events alleged to have occurred in the 1970s’.

It added that, ‘while no criminal prosecution arose in these matters, the Diocese nevertheless removed Mr O’Connor from ministry and continued to apply rigorous canonical safeguarding processes over many years thereafter.’

The statement went on to say that ‘an earlier decision to dismiss Mr O’Connor from the priesthood was successfully appealed to the Vatican at that time, restrictions and conditions were imposed upon him under a canonical precept’.

And it added: ‘More recent breaches of those restrictions ultimately resulted in his dismissal from the priesthood.’

Another woman who claimed she was molested by O’Connor as a child said she ‘would like to know what the recent breaches of restrictions were’ that resulted in his dismissal.

She also asked: ‘Did his “rigorous canonical safeguarding” involve him having no access to minors?’

Bishop Cullinan has still not responded to these and other queries relating to Michael O’Connor and his living arrangements this week.

The property O’Connor is currently living in is administered by the Ecclesiastical Benevolent Society of the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore. It is a registered charity, whose stated aim is ‘to benefit the community’. The Society is listed on the diocesan website.

Bishop Cullinan insists the Diocese ‘has no control over the Benevolent Society whatsoever’.