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Belvedere College released the name of a priest who abused students at school in the 1970s after a former student had come forward detailing the abuse.
Ireland’s Jesuit order said Joseph Marmion, a priest and former teacher, “abused children sexually, emotionally and physically while serving on the faculty at Belvedere College in the 1970s.”
The religious order hopes that other students who suffered abuse at the hands of Fr. Marmion will be able to come forward and get the support they need after the decision to make the priest’s name public.
Joseph Marmion SJ was a professor at Belvedere College from 1969 to 1978. He died in 2000.
In 2019, an alumnus of Belvedere College contacted Jesuits about the abuse he suffered as a student at the school in Dublin city center. The abuse took place when the man was 13 years old.
Father Leonard Moloney SJ, provincial of the order, met with the man who said he was concerned that others may have been abused and asked that the priest’s name be made public.
“This man also conveyed to me that he believed that others who were abused could benefit by acknowledging that they too were terribly hurt. He asked that we name his abuser, Joseph Marmion SJ, publicly and make this information widely available to reach out to as many alumni as possible, ”Father Moloney said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.
According to the statement, the Jesuit Order has been contacted by many others abused by Fr. Marmion when they were young students, and they fear that many others were unable to speak due to the secrecy imposed by the former priest.
“They have talked about sexual abuse and physical and emotional harassment from him,” he said.
“We are well aware of the pain and anguish that many have endured and continued to endure, years after the original experience,” said Father Moloney.
“It is a matter of deep regret for me and for the Society of Jesus that children have been abused while in our care. We are so sorry. Words are never enough,” he said.
The Jesuit Order granted Fr. Marmion a sabbatical leave in Paris in the Jesuit community of Saint François Xavier for the end of the 1977/1978 academic year after reports of concerned parents in 1977 about sexual abuse at school.
He was then transferred to the Jesuit community on Gardiner Street. In 1990, the Order of the Jesuits appointed Fr. Marmion as chaplain of the Private Hospital of San Vicente.
The Jesuit Order “recognizes that these later appointments should not have been made.”
Marmion also taught at Crescent College Limerick and Clongowes Wood College in Kildare while a member of the Jesuit Order.
The abuse detailed in 2019 relates to a student’s time at Belvedere College, but the order says that “every effort will be made to communicate this information to alumni in all schools.”
Father Moloney paid tribute to the man who came forward in 2019 and said help was available for other alumni.
The Jesuit Order said that all information about abuses will be shared with An Garda Síochána, Tusla and other relevant authorities.
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