Cardinal Brady: I did what I was expected to do

Cardinal Sean Brady has said his handling of complaints of sexual abuse by paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth was not a resigning matter. The Cardinal was speaking in light of controversy from the BBC's 'This World' programme, broadcast on Tuesday night. When asked if he thought it might be best to step aside Cardinal Brady said: "That has crossed my mind, but at the same time, when I give an account of what I did, [I] did what I was expected to do to the best of my ability - promptly, effectively, then I don't think that is a resigning matter." The BBC documentary reported that Cardinal Brady took notes during an investigation into abuse claims by the then altar boy Brendan Boland from Dundalk. Mr Boland told interviewer Darragh McIntyre that he had been abused for over two years by Smyth. Boland claimed that in 1975 he informed a team of three priests, including Sean Brady, who was then a priest, of the names and addresses of a number of minors at risk of abuse, including a boy and a girl from Cavan. He gave details of how he had witnessed one boy from Belfast being abused, and said that another boy from Cavan had also claimed he had been abused by the paedophile Smyth. The one-hour programme, entitled 'The Shame of The Catholic Church', traced the two boys and they claimed that their families had not been told of the allegations of abuse. The Belfast victim also claims that his sister then became a victim of Smyth's, as did some of his first cousins. Cardinal Brady, passed details of the allegations to his superiors. He has always maintained that he did what was expected of him in his role as notary. In 2009 he had told RTE: "If I found myself in the situation where I was aware that my failure to act had allowed or meant that other children were abused, well then I think I would resign." Speaking to Morning Ireland on Tuesday, Monsignor Charles Scicluna defended Cardinal Brady. "Fr Brady in 1975 was a notetaker, a notary, and he did what he should have done and that is he forwarded all the information to the people who had the power to act." When asked if he made any mistake he said that Cardinal Brady did "exactly what was expected of him".. He said there was an inadequate response by the abbot of Holy Trinity Abbey in Kilnacrott, who was in a position to make decisions. Monsignor Scicluna said that Fr Daly "fulfilled his duty well" and that he didn't have any questions to answer as a result of the documentary's investigation.