September 23, 2002
Cardinal awaits decision on charges
By Daniel McGrory
The Times
THE Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, is waiting to hear whether he will be prosecuted over allegations that he helped a paedophile priest to avoid criminal charges.
The Crown Prosecution Service is studying police evidence over the role that he is alleged to have played in protecting the priest. Surrey and Sussex police forces and Scotland Yard have spent several months questioning those involved in sexual offences against young boys in the 1980s by a priest who was given a job by the Cardinal.
The prosecution service says that no final decision will be taken on whether to charge the Cardinal, 70, until the police investigation is completed. The Cardinal has not been interviewed by the police.
A prosecution service spokesman said: "Sussex Police contacted us for advice as part of their inquiries involving the Cardinal and we gave them advice which must remain confidential." The prosecution service said that it did know long the investigation would take.
At issue is whether the Cardinal knew of an offence and acted in a way intended to impede a prosecution or pevert the course of justice. It is understood that the investigation is the result of an allegation in a letter sent to police. Some of the victims of the priest, who was jailed for five years for sex offences, say that the Cardinal was told of the attacks as far back as 1981.
Two years later the Cardinal, who was then the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, appointed the priest to his own diocese, where he met his last victim.
The Cardinal said at the time: "I maintain that, with the facts known to me, the decisions made in this regard were not irresponsible." He was later quoted as saying that he did not contact the police because he regarded the matter as "more a moral and pastoral problem than a police problem".
Cardinal awaits decision on charges
By Daniel McGrory
The Times
THE Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, is waiting to hear whether he will be prosecuted over allegations that he helped a paedophile priest to avoid criminal charges.
The Crown Prosecution Service is studying police evidence over the role that he is alleged to have played in protecting the priest. Surrey and Sussex police forces and Scotland Yard have spent several months questioning those involved in sexual offences against young boys in the 1980s by a priest who was given a job by the Cardinal.
The prosecution service says that no final decision will be taken on whether to charge the Cardinal, 70, until the police investigation is completed. The Cardinal has not been interviewed by the police.
A prosecution service spokesman said: "Sussex Police contacted us for advice as part of their inquiries involving the Cardinal and we gave them advice which must remain confidential." The prosecution service said that it did know long the investigation would take.
At issue is whether the Cardinal knew of an offence and acted in a way intended to impede a prosecution or pevert the course of justice. It is understood that the investigation is the result of an allegation in a letter sent to police. Some of the victims of the priest, who was jailed for five years for sex offences, say that the Cardinal was told of the attacks as far back as 1981.
Two years later the Cardinal, who was then the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, appointed the priest to his own diocese, where he met his last victim.
The Cardinal said at the time: "I maintain that, with the facts known to me, the decisions made in this regard were not irresponsible." He was later quoted as saying that he did not contact the police because he regarded the matter as "more a moral and pastoral problem than a police problem".