A Roman Catholic bishop tried to find work for a priest despite knowing he was a registered sex offender, an official report has said.
Bishop Robert Byrne, was formerly of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle until he stood down in December. He also ignored safeguarding warnings to appoint a dean at St Mary’s Cathedral who had groomed young people, and who killed himself in 2021 after police began to investigate him.
The Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA) reviewed safeguarding at the diocese and found it is currently meeting minimum standards. It also looked at how Bishop Byrne ran the diocese and it found that the way he undermined safeguarding had the potential to put people at risk, amounting to “serious failures of leadership”.
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Three lay trustees resigned in opposition to the way he managed safeguarding, the report found.
Witnesses told the CSSA investigators that Bishop Byrne had a close friendship with a convicted paedophile, referred to as Father A as he is facing further court proceedings.
Father A socialised with the bishop, spent time at his official residence both during the day and overnight and visited the private quarters of St Mary’s Cathedral. Bishop Byrne, 66, asked for permission for Father A to live with him as he felt “isolated” living in the bishop’s house, the report stated.
The report said Bishop Byrne tried to get a job for Father A within the diocese working on its archives, but a safeguarding officer refused the appointment as that would give Father A access to sensitive files.
Bishop Byrne also tried to get Father A work with an overseas charity that works with vulnerable people, giving few details of his friend’s offending history and saying that he was subject to sex offenders’ register requirements for only a few more months.
The charity refused to appoint him.
Bishop Byrne also ignored safeguarding issues about Canon Michael McCoy, whom he promoted to be cathedral dean, despite there being concerns about his behaviour dating back to 1996, the report said. The concerns included him offering young people foreign holidays and providing them with alcohol despite them being underage.
Former lay employees and clergy gave clear accounts that Bishop Byrne was notified about McCoy’s “significant history”, including an “in-person” hand-over from his predecessor in 2019. However, Bishop Bryne indicated he wanted to go ahead with the appointment.
The report said it could not say whether McCoy committed offences, but he “displayed a clear pattern of grooming behaviour over the years”. He killed himself after Northumbria Police informed him that an investigation into historic abuse allegations was to begin.
The CSSA report conclusion stated: “Our review has identified a number of serious failures of leadership which have undermined the work of safeguarding professionals and left people at potential risk. Ultimately, a failure of leadership means a failure of safeguarding.”
Last month, an official investigation ordered by Archbishop Malcolm McMahon found that Bishop Byrne had made a series of “errors of judgment”.
Lawyer Richard Scorer of Slater and Gordon, who has acted for many survivors of clerical sex abuse in the Catholic church, said: “This is a damning report which exposes multiple failings in the diocese. However, it raises a much wider issue for the Catholic church which is the unlimited and unaccountable power of bishops.
“In the Catholic Church’s medieval structure, the bishop is king in his own diocese and can ignore and ride roughshod over the advice of safeguarding advisors. Whenever we see scandals in the Catholic church, we typically find that a bishop has abused his power.
“Unless and until the Catholic church, nationally and internationally, radically reforms its structures to ensure that bishops are properly accountable, these kinds of scandals will continue to happen.”
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