A redress scheme for men abused as boys by Fr Joseph Marmion at three Jesuit Colleges in Ireland has been welcomed as "a positive step" by a steering committee representing the men.
The scheme offers €75,000 and over, depending on severity of the abuse.
Marmion, who died in 2000, is believed to have abused dozens of boys at Belvedere College in Dublin, Clongowes Wood College in Kildare, and at Crescent College in Limerick.
The scheme is voluntary and without prejudice to either side’s rights. However, in accepting any award, the claimant will forfeit their right to pursue legal action against the congregation. A statute of limitations will not apply and the Jesuits have committed themselves to settlements “as soon as practicably possible”.
The steering committee described the scheme as “a positive step along the road to full accountability for the failure of the Jesuit order to respond appropriately or adequately to the emotional, spiritual, psychological, sexual, and physical abuse inflicted by Joseph Marmion on children entrusted to its care over 40 years ago, and support those who were abused and assist their healing”.
It advised claimants to contact Crowley Millar Solicitors at the IFSC in Dublin and believed those abused may number up to 100. More than 40 victims are understood to have reported sexual, psychological, physical or emotional abuse by Marmion to date.
Independent counselling
The steering committee has been working with Irish Jesuit Provincial Fr Leonard Moloney on the scheme, on independent counselling for those abused by Jesuits generally, and on developing a programme to increase awareness of the support available to abused past pupils.
Fr Moloney described the redress scheme as “one strand in a number of processes that have taken place since the Order first named Joseph Marmion on March 2nd, 2021, as a Jesuit who abused pupils in Belvedere, Clongowes and Crescent College Limerick 40 years ago”.
He repeated his apology to all those who suffered at the hands of Marmion.
“At the time of naming, I said that words are never enough. They are not.” His “sincere hope” is that the scheme as constructed will cause “the least possible trauma to victim/survivors of Joseph Marmion, who have already suffered enough”.
Details of the scheme are at jesuits.ie
