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Catholic bishops apologise and beg for forgiveness
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Catholic bishops last night begged for forgiveness after issuing a blanket apology to everyone who has been affected by clerical child sex abuse.
The unprecedented statement came following a crisis meeting of top clergy in Maynooth yesterday on foot of last month's publication of the Murphy report into the clerical sex abuse.
It read: “We, as bishops, apologise to all those who were abused by priests as children, their families and to all people who feel rightly outraged and let down by the failure of moral leadership and accountability that emerges from the report.”
The bishops also asked that they they be forgiven for the culture of cover-up which they acknowledged was rife not only in the Archdiocese of Dublin but “widespread” within the Catholic church.
They also acknowledged that avoiding scandal and protecting the reputation of the Church and its hierarchy came before protecting children.
“We are deeply shocked by the scale and depravity of abuse as described in the report,” the statement read.
“We are shamed by the extent to which child sexual abuse was covered up in the Archdiocese of Dublin and recognise that this indicates a culture that was widespread in the Church.
“The avoidance of scandal, the preservation of the reputations of individuals and of the Church, took precedence over the safety and welfare of children.
“This should never have happened and must never be allowed to happen again. We humbly ask for forgiveness.”
The fallout from the damning report dominated the first day of the winter general meeting of the Irish Bishops' Conference.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Sean Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin will fly to Rome today ahead of tomorrow's meeting at the Vatican with Pope Benedict XVI, to brief him on their plans to restore “the moral authority of the Irish bishops” and to discuss the resignations of the 10 bishops criticised in the report.
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36 Comments
So there still are Bishops of the Church that will admit to their shortcomings... although it is obvious that they apologized only when it became unavoidable. Would that the American Bishops would have had the honesty to do the same!
Posted by Dan Hogan | 15.12.09, 18:50 GMT
Turn from the sin, for without penance the words of apology have no meaning.
Posted by JLS | 12.12.09, 04:32 GMT
If those bishops really want to make an apology, they should ALL resign and bring in others to take over the leadership of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Posted by Thomas Carney | 11.12.09, 20:00 GMT
Fair Play, your completely off topic here. The "crowd" who ran Stormount 1922-1972 did not rape and abuse youngsters. Child abuse to most people is the most heinous crime imaginable, but obviously you don't share that view. How you have the nerve to compare the two shows just how twisted your tiny mind has become. Try as you might, but you can't blame the protestants on this one.
Posted by William | 11.12.09, 09:23 GMT
Remember the parable of the lamp. Remember what Christ said about scandal.
There is nothing presently hidden which will not be revealed at a later time.
Scandals will arise, but woe to he through whom the scandal arises. He would be better off if a milestone be cast around his neck and he cast into the sea.
Keep the faith. Obey all clergy in matters of faith and morals. The gates of Hell will not prevail against Christ's Church.
Resist the temptation of painting all clergy with the same paint brush. Most are loyal to their vocation.
Being of Irish Decent, my prayers are with the faithful of Ireland. Pray for those clergy who are faithful to their vocation. Remember, this is The Year of The Priest.
May the Peace of Christ be with the clergy and laity of Ireland at this difficult time. Persevere in prayer. The Sacred and Immaculate Hearts will triumph.
God Bless!
Posted by WILLIAM P. MURPHY | 11.12.09, 04:51 GMT
Apologies are all very well but I might believe them if THE PAPAL NUNICO and /or the pope was seen to be assisting the inquiry even at this late date. Also words mean nothing coming from a bunch of criminals that are worse the the sick bastards that commited the crimes.They still do not get it "crimes were commited but worse still then covered up",were are the criminal investigions.
Posted by des | 11.12.09, 02:41 GMT
They act as if all of this stuff to be apologized for is news to them as well. It isn't. So why does the apology come only after they've gottten caught with their hands in the till?
Why didn't they come forward earlier on and say "listen, we have some confessions to make and some things to make right?"
They apologize for placing avoidance of scandal ahead of doing what was right, but they didn't cease doing that until the Report made it impossible to do so!
And a "blanket apology" is like a "get out of jail free" card. Only they don't have one. What must be done isn't "blanket." It's to make it right insofar as possible, to each and every survivor.
It's also to move forward in a fashion that is truly changed and shows contrition. The process of change itself must be transparent, and include the laity.
Posted by Greg Bullough | 10.12.09, 22:28 GMT
My post was a deliberate attempt to bring some BALANCE to the assortment of lapsed Catholics /OO members /others with an axe to grind/ etc etc who never miss a shot at the CC.
If the Pope burped it would be news in NI, so the present hysterical tirade is hardly surprising. I'll bet many of the respondents here haven't actually fully READ the article in their glee to rush off another shot at us. Every dog has his day. Enjoy.
But where are the statements of regret from the old obsenity at Stormont when the mess unfolded ? Silence.
Speaking as an enraged Catholic (like most all of us) I hope that jail sentences will be imposed on the guilty. Just as it should on Police, Judges, Teachers, Vicars etc guilty of the same crimes as some of our clergy.
I'll leave the last word to another man "Let he who has not sinned throw the first stone". All you bible thumpers should LOVE that.
Posted by Fair Play | 10.12.09, 22:10 GMT
How many times can one ask for forgiveness and still expect to be believed? As a Survivor of Sexual victimization by Roman Catholic Priest, I've been reminded by many Truly Spiritual People, (Catholics & Non-Catholics Alike) of the Graces to be garnered by forgiving those who have hurt us; But it is a cheap grace when those asking pardon are not genuinely sorry; Merely Terribly, Terribly Sorry They Got Caught. However, not being a "Supreme Being" myself, I don't know how to forgive that kind of evil. Because, as horrible as the sexual violations were, the betrayal of the bishops who knew what that priest was and yet did nothing to stop him is the most monstrous crime of all. This is why I have no pity for the bishops, major superiors and popes, including the present Pope, who could have saved thousands of children, young people and vulnerable adults from this nightmare.
Posted by Victoria Martin | 10.12.09, 21:18 GMT
Why no mention of compensation for the victims?
Posted by Graham | 10.12.09, 21:13 GMT
Veteran commentator/journalist/economist Joe Foyle made an interesting observation on the Studies blog about Diarmuid Martin’s remarks on Prime Time about the collapse of diocesan severity in the 1960s:
"It seems that around the 1960s a major policy change emerged. In line with the secular anti-punishment mood of the times, it was decided that the defrocking sanction was inhumane and that, instead, rehabilitation should be attempted to enable offenders to continue to work as priests. The policy change backfired when offenders re-offended. That hurt children and blighted lives gravely, cost Dioceses and Congregations hundreds of millions, evoked ‘cover-up’ allegations that undermined Bishops and the priesthood in general, and ushered in our current era of Catholic laity who are effectively priestless."
Posted by shane o'neill | 10.12.09, 19:21 GMT
As Chapter 4 of the Report noted, after Vatican II there was a “collapse of respect for canon law [CIC] in archdiocesan circles … offenders were neither prosecuted nor made accountable within the church”. The 1917 CIC “decreed deprivation of office and/or benefice, or expulsion from the clerical state for such offences”. A bishop who heard of an abuse allegation was required to investigate it under canon law, and expel him from the priesthood if found guilty in a canonical trial (which was to happen both parallel and independently of a civil prosection). The revolt against 'legalism' mindset after the Second Vatican Council lead the post-conciliar Archbishops to ignore the CIC and only two canonical trials ever took place in the period under reivew (both were in the 1990s) and in spite of severe opposition from Monsignor Sheehy, the archdiocesan “expert” in canon law and ultra-liberal, who “considered that the penal aspects of that law should rarely be invoked”.
Posted by shane o'neill | 10.12.09, 19:20 GMT
The awful handling of the abuse scandals is the result of trendy post-Vatican bishops and priests who were in open revolt against the 'legalism' of the preconciliar church. Ultraliberal prelates like Archbishop Dermot Ryan (who was deposed from Clonliffe by JC McQuaid for his modernism) not only devestated the lives of vulnerable children, but also destroyed ("reordered") High Altars, statuery, confessions (now 'reconcilation rooms') and replaced fiddleback chausables with insipid polyesters, the Penny Catechism with liberal mash and the ancient Latin Liturgy with its High English transliteration with a banal paraphrase of the vulgar tongue. No surprise that the Murphy Report finds that "Archbishops Ryan and McNamara do not seem to have ever applied the canon law". They should not only apologize to victims of sex abuse but to all of us who are victims of Vatican II abuse and the wreckovation of churches, our own patrimony, the length and breadth of the island.
Posted by shane o'neill | 10.12.09, 19:19 GMT
"The Catholic Church" is not to blame for any of this, but we do we have to blame the post-Vatican II bishops for this awful child abuse, so contrary to Pope Pius V who demanded that they be burned at the stake. Over 99% of Curial documents go ignored by diocesan bishops anyway, for example there are only five parishes in Ireland that offer a weekly Traditional Mass but the Vatican demands that it be in every parish. Not a single diocese in Ireland has implemented Redemptionis Sacramentum or much else indeed. The Irish bishops pay only nominal felicity to Rome, and haven't truly obeyed the Holy See since before Vatican II. Still even as bad as the postconciliar priests are, it would not be impertinent to point out
Posted by shane o'neill | 10.12.09, 19:04 GMT
Actions speak louder than words.
The guilty colluding Bishpos should resign, the guilty paedophile priests shopuld be pursued with the full force of the law.
Beg forgiveness ?? Like their victims begged for mercy ??
Posted by Anyonebutunited | 10.12.09, 18:11 GMT
bla bla bla and it will happen again they are only sorry they have been exposed but i bet not as sorry as the victims, every paedophile is sorry when caught but true remorse is different shame on the church of rome
Posted by liam | 10.12.09, 17:58 GMT
But the crimes of the violation of abuse and or the crimes of cover up crimes still must have a court date as well as law suits for damages by the damaged ,other wise you are forgiven and sin no more.
Posted by phl | 10.12.09, 17:37 GMT
Forgiveness comes after remorse and restitution. This doesn't sound like remorse. It just sounds like they got caught. And they don't seem to make any offer of restitution. I think restitution would include cooperating fully with all investigations, handing over documents, making changes to Canon Law and Crimen Sollicitationis which allowed this to happen, and paying damages. They are jumping way ahead here in asking for forgiveness. These are very bold men. And this plea is insulting.
Posted by SarahTX2 | 10.12.09, 17:20 GMT
these sick evil people should be weeded out, tried and prosecuted in public. i am sure there are one or two still lurking in the shadows! i dont know who is worse, the church protected abusers or the Irish state that helped cover it up.
Posted by peter | 10.12.09, 17:07 GMT
Will God forgive them?Will you?
How do you work out the ability of
the people employed by the catholic church as clerics,how do you rate the people who employ them.
I walk away in wonder,'do under god what god would do under you 'Silence is not always golden
Posted by philip murphy | 10.12.09, 16:48 GMT
36 Comments