I must say, I was a bit surprised to see this topic here! To an Irish person this is very old news - though that’s not to say by any means that it is an episode of Irish Ecclesiastical history which has been forgotten. Unfortunately, I’m a bit too young to remember the details which emerged when the story broke, but it is true to say that the revelations about Fr Cleary’s secret life & indeed that of Bishop Eamon Casey were clear watersheds which marked the start of the horrific revelations of child sexual abuse in the Irish Church (& indeed many state-run institutions). About a year or two ago there was a programme on Irish television about Fr Cleary and his secret relationship - I think it was aired by the national broadcaster RTE - so if you search the website
www.rte.ie you may be able to find the programme and possibly watch it online.
As dreadful as the story is - Cleary breaking his vows, having a sexual relationship, fathering a child, and keeping it a secret until the grave - Michael Cleary did provide for his son. Ross, of course, did not know that the priest was actually his father, but Cleary did support him, which is much more than can be said for other priests who were found to have fathered children.
I don’t know if you have ever seen TV clips of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Ireland in 1979, but they are most interesting to watch- especially the parts when the Pope is visiting Galway Racecourse. Who will you see “warming up” the crowd but Fr Michael Cleary and Bishop Eamon Casey (they were supposedly good friends) - two absolutely larger than life figures in the Church of the 1970’s, Cleary in his long cassock and Casey with his purple bishop’s biretta leading the huge congregation in song. Little did the people know what was really going on! I happen to know a bit more about Casey than Cleary and in Casey’s case where he fathered a son with an American divorcee, Annie Murphy, there was certainly outrage in the diocese of Galway and the whole country. However, after the initial shock, people (certainly in the Galway diocese) realised that it was his hypocricy that angered them more than the fact that he had fathered a child. Casey could preach fiery sermons on moral issues, while unbeknown to the congregation he was doing some of the very things he was railing against.
I don’t really know how Cleary should be judged now. Obviously what he did was wrong, no one disputes that. If he were alive today, would he be expressing remorse, could he openly accept his son - we just don’t know. His fellow cleric, Dr Casey, as you know spent many years in exile in South America and later in England. About four years ago he returned to Galway. Fr Casey, as he is now known, is not allowed to celebrate Mass in public because there was an allegation of abuse made against him on his return which the Police found to be false, but the Church seems to be dragging it’s heels with it’s own investigation. I know the matter won’t be put to rest by the court of public opinion, but it seems to me that the overwhelming feeling is that Casey has done his penance and has expressed regret and remorse and should be allowed to return to public ministry if he wishes.
If I recall correctly, the programme showed Ross to be a very respectable young man, who, despite the circumstances of his upbringing, is doing his very best to get on with his life. As for a priest in the Church getting involved in such scandals - I know in the scale of things, this may seem very simplistic, but the reality is that priests sin too. Even the Pope is open to the same temptations as everyone else. People deal with temptations in different ways, and thankfully most priests do not succumb to the same temptations as Fr Cleary did. The Church has never pretended that it’s bishops and priests are “above” sinning (though some certainly thought they were) - just remember who Christ appointed as head of His Church. Peter was far from being free from sin, yet Christ has given him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.
