Seán Fortune
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Rjwilmsi
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gen + birth/death date fixes per [[Wikipedia:DATE#Dates_of_birth_and_death|MOS]], Replaced: ''Seán Fortune''' (d. [[March 13]] [[1999]]) → ''Seán Fortune''' (di using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]]
Fr. '''Seán Fortune''' (died [[March 13]] [[1999]]) was an Irish [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]] [[priest]] and [[child sexual abuse]]r, who used his position to gain access to his victims.
Born in New Ross, County [[Wexford]], Sean Fortune was educated at [[St Peter's College, Wexford]], which was the diocesan seminary of the [[diocese of Ferns]]. It was during his training that the church authorities became aware that Fortune was engaged in abuse. This, however, did not impede his ordination.
Fortune ministered in the village of Fethard on Sea in Co. [[Wexford]], in [[Belfast]] and in [[Dundalk]]. Allegations of abuse were made against him in all three places. He also set up a business in Dublin which offered media and journalism training to the public.
In March [[1999]], he committed suicide in [[New Ross]] while awaiting trial for sixty-six charges of sexual abuse against twenty-nine boys. He had taken a lethal cocktail of drugs and alcohol and was found dead in bed by his housekeeper. He had been remanded in custody pending trial but had been released days earlier.
In March [[2002]], the [[BBC]] broadcast ''Suing the Pope'', a documentary detailing the activities of Fortune and the response of the [[Diocese of Ferns]] to his activities over the years. As a result, [[Bishop]] [[Brendan Comiskey]], the Bishop of [[Ferns, County Wexford|Ferns]], resigned due to his perceived mishandling of the case. He had described Fr. Fortune as being "virtually impossible to deal with."
The Report of the [[Ferns Inquiry]] claims that two of Fortune's victims have since committed suicide.
==See also==
* [[Colm O'Gorman]]
* [[Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal]]
*[[Roman_Catholic_sex_abuse_cases#Roman_Catholic_priests_accused_of_sex_offenses|Roman Catholic priests accused of sex offenses]]
*[[Ferns Report]], on sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns, Ireland
*[[Crimen sollicitationis]]
*[[Pontifical Secret]]
*[[Deliver Us from Evil (2006 film)]]
*[[Panorama_%28TV_series%29#Sex_Crimes_and_the_Vatican|Sex Crimes and the Vatican]] (Panorama Documentary Episode)
*[[Barbara Blaine]] founder of SNAP (Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests)
*[[Red Hot Catholic Love]], ''South Park'' television episode
==Sources==
* ''A Message from Heaven:The Life and Crimes of Father Sean Fortune'' - Alison O'Connor, 2000 - ISBN 0863222706, referenced in [[List of books portraying paedophilia or sexual abuse of minors]].
==External links==
*[http://www.worldpress.org/Europe/547.cfm Bleeding the Church]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:1999 deaths|Fortune, Sean]]
[[Category:Religious people who committed suicide|Fortune, Sean]]
[[Category:Irish Roman Catholic priests|Fortune, Sean]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal|Fortune, Sean]]
[[Category:People from County Wexford]]
[[Category:Suicides in the Republic of Ireland]]
[[cs:Seán Fortune]]
[[sk:Seán Fortune]]