The Jesuits’ Formula: Deny, Lie, Stall—Then Offer Redress Only After the Predator Is Dead

In February 2025, Shane Daly SJ, current Provincial of the Jesuits in Ireland, issued a pathetic 12-line apology to victims of Father Kevin Laheen SJ—a man now openly acknowledged as a serial child abuser. The statement was hollow. No names. No accountability. No action. Just damage control—decades too late.

And yet, it followed the classic Jesuit playbook:

Deny, deny, deny.
Lie, lie, lie.
Delay, obfuscate, wait for the predator to die.

Take, for example, one adult survivor who first reported Kevin Laheen to authorities in 1999, disclosing that they had been sexually abused by him as a toddler. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) declined to act. The Jesuits denied the allegation. No charges. No justice. Just silence.

That survivor tried again.
In 2010—denied again.
In 2014—still denied.
Over two decades of obstruction and institutional indifference.

By the time the Jesuits finally acknowledged Laheen’s crimes—after his death—it was too late for the survivor to seek meaningful legal redress. Criminal prosecution was no longer an option. The civil route via the High Court? Blocked.

Instead, the survivor—sexually abused as a toddler—was offered €120,000 through a controlled redress scheme. Had the Jesuits acknowledged the truth while Laheen was alive, that survivor could have pursued a High Court claim potentially worth twice that amount or more, and forced the institution to face public accountability.

But that’s the design.

Shane Daly and the Jesuits have confirmed the strategy: they only confirm abuse after the priest has died. If they confirm it during his lifetime, they risk civil litigation, public exposure, and institutional collapse. But when the priest is dead, survivors are left with no legal leverage, only low compensation and sealed apologies.

They Stole Safety from Children. They Don’t Deserve the Sanctity of Leeson Street.

The Jesuits continue to reside at 35–36 Leeson Street, the very place where Laheen lived, where cover-ups were coordinated, and where survivors were ignored.

Why should they enjoy peace and privacy, when they destroyed homes like 72 Kincora Road, where children were sexually abused under the Jesuits' watch?

They desecrated what a home is meant to be:
A place of innocence, protection, and safety.
Instead, they constructed sanctuaries for predators.

If they mean one word of their regret, they should begin by releasing 35–36 Leeson Street to the State, survivor foundations, or public accountability bodies. It is no longer a house of faith—it is a crime scene in bricks and mortar.

No more redress-only-after-death. No more ghostwritten apologies. No more silence.

We demand:

• Full criminal investigations

• Disclosure of all Jesuit files

• Immediate access to suppressed records

• And proper reparations—not hush money behind closed doors

By the time the Jesuits finally acknowledged Kevin Laheen’s crimes—only after his death—it was too late for the survivor to pursue meaningful justice. Any High Court claim would have been worth millions, given the level of depravity, the age of the victim, and the length of institutional cover-up.

Even if a redress scheme had been offered just five years earlier, the amount would have been €240,000—twice what was eventually offered. But instead, through deliberate delay, denial, and deflection, the Jesuits successfully ran down the clock. They denied. They buried evidence. They waited for the abuser to die.

It’s not neglect. It’s a legal containment strategy wrapped in religious language.
And it is morally bankrupt.

Shane Daly SJ should be investigated—not issued PR copy and platforms. His 12-line February 2025 apology was not only insulting, it was strategic. Designed not for victims, but for liability minimisation. He should be facing prison, not leading the province.

And Leonard Moloney SJ? He should be under criminal investigation. There are witnesses who confirm that Moloney personally pulled aside an adult survivor at Kevin Laheen’s repose in March 2019, and thanked them for their “discretion”. Not for their courage. Not for their truth. For their silence.

That is not compassion. That is obstruction of justice.