LONDON (CNS): Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor of Westminster has rejected media allegations that he turned a blind eye to paedophile priests in his previous Diocese of Arundel and Brighton.
Writing in the London newspaper The Times on November 21, the cardinal said there had been a ‘welter of accusation, allegation and innuendo’ about his conduct.
He was responding to allegations broadcast by the BBC that he had ignored allegations of paedophilia and that victims had been paid ‘hush money’.
‘I reject both allegations,’ the cardinal said.
He referred to media coverage of his actions with regard to a former priest of Arundel and Brighton diocese, Fr Michael Hill.
Hill, who was released from prison in 2000 after a three-year sentence for child abuse, was sentenced to five more years on November 21 after admitting six further offences against three boys. The judge described Hill’s actions as an ‘appalling breach of trust’.
The BBC alleged that Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor failed to act appropriately once he knew that Hill was a paedophile and that he had appointed him as an airport chaplain knowing that he might be a risk to children.
