McQuaid was a dangerous man with a scissors

Today’s 'Irish Times' reports there were two child sex abuse cases against the former Catholic archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid, as well as a separate ‘concern’. They were brought to the attention of the Murphy commission.

One complaint alleges abuse of a 12-year-old boy by Archbishop McQuaid in 1961.

It was 1972 when I received the order of tonsure. The silly ritual meant that we presented ourselves to the bishop, who symbolically cut a lock of our hair.

As Dominicans in Tallaght, seven of us who were to be ordained priests in 1974, headed out to Drumcondra to receive tonsure from Archbishop Charles McQuaid.

Almost 40 years later I can still remember the violence of the man. At the time I had long hair. Archbishop McQuaid grabbed my hair in a most violent manner and tore through it with his scissors. I can still feel the heat of the scissors, see his menacing eyes. There was almost a smirk on his face.

He looked holy – to some. To me, he was incredibly sinister.

This man created, organised and ran a Dublin-wide boys' brigade.

McQuaid ruled the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin from 1940 to 1972.

It is not kind to speak badly of the dead but there is great need to make sure that we protect people in society from the madness and evil of people and groupings that can cause harm.

The clericalism that McQuaid epitomised is alive and well in the Irish Catholic church, maybe even in the ascendancy.

The majority of priests in Dublin, indeed, in Ireland were afraid of McQuaid and his creepy ways. Alas those ‘creepy’ ways are so evident in our church today.

And it is not hyperbolic to suggest that the influence of McQuaid is still alive and real in the Irish church.

McQuaid made secrecy and power an art form. It was considered virtuous to be inordinately secret.

Of course he furthered people whom he knew he could control. They would be ‘obedient’ to him. They were.

Sycophants roam all walks of life but there is something about the institutional church, that gives them a special place. Mixed in the nasty cocktail has something to do with sexuality.

And that culture is thriving today in the Irish church and no doubt in the church around the world.

What to do?