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Why Church must confess all for sake of my abused friend
Thursday, 18 March 2010
For evil to succeed it is only necessary that good men either do nothing ? or that they get the victims of evil to sign vows of silence promising never to reveal details of the terrible abuse they suffered.
Over 30 years ago when senior clerics in the Catholic Church in Ireland — including the man who would go on to become its leader, Cardinal Sean Brady — swore to silence the young victims of the monstrous Fr Brendan Smyth, they may well have assured themselves that this was the right thing to do.
And that it would be the end of the matter. They were operating under Canon Law and will have told themselves that there was no need therefore to involve the law of the land.
For the sake of the Church, best that the scandal was kept in-|house ?
Good men? Undoubtedly. Misguided? Absolutely. We know that, because we have the benefit of hindsight. And because we know what happened next.
Brendan Smyth was moved around within the Church. But as we all now know, he went on to abuse other young victims and to destroy other lives.
He was not the only one either.
The sheer scale of the scandal which has engulfed the Catholic Church worldwide in recent years is truly staggering.
From America to Australia, from South America to Europe. In recent weeks there have been similar reports from Italy and the Netherlands. And now even the Pope’s homeland, Germany, has been making headlines.
But on this St Patrick’s Day, it is the church in Ireland which is the focus of global attention.
And the questions not just of what mistakes were made within the Catholic Church in Ireland in the past — but crucially what must now be done to put it right. The ultimate victims in this story are of course, the victims of the abuse.
A good friend of mine is one of them. She is a young woman who has survived an appalling start in life — and the most horrific abuse — to go on and build a real future for herself and her family.
She is utterly magnificent. And only occasionally does she allow herself to be swept back to thinking about the horror of her childhood. Inevitably she was forced to relive that again this week. I imagine the same has been true for most victims.
Where does all this end?
There is no doubt that the secondary victims of the rogue priests include the Church itself and the vast overwhelming majority of the good men and women who serve within it. The decent majority have been stained by the crimes of an evil minority.
And one knock-on effect of that is that, understandably enough, many within the Church now feel defensive and angry about how its reputation has been tarnished.
It is even reported that, within the Vatican, some now argue that the current scandal is something that has been whipped up entirely by anti-Church forces.
This is delusional in the |extreme. And dangerous.
Pretending there isn’t a problem isn’t going to make it go away.
Brendan Smyth was the ultimate evidence of that. The horrors of the past must be confronted and the details of who did what must be laid bare.
Covering up evil didn’t work in the past. And it’s not going to work now. The men who were party to that cover-up may have done it for what they believed were the best of reasons.
They may not be bad men themselves. But for the sake of their Church and for the sake of the victims of Church abuse, they must now take responsibility for the fall-out from their actions. And that applies right up to the top.
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Perhaps what is needed now is a "Victims' Commissioner.
These were little children, whatever denomination they were from...little children who were raped, misused, tortured, abused and probably made feel it was their fault.
The Pope would be seen to be pro-active, if he were to come here and invite all those betrayed by his church, and listen to their hurts and pain.
It is far, far too big a disaster for congretations to receive a letter of apology, no, he is possibly the only person to, at the very least, show that he really does care about his flock...
They need pastoral care and love.
Posted by Valerie Corbett | 23.03.10, 10:30 GMT
Ryan,
On reflection maybe we should go back to the Plantation.The problem as I see it is the R C Church hasn't moved on since. Do you seriously believe that the Pope is Gods spokesman.Why didn't he stop his fellow Catholic Adolf from committing genocide?.
Confessions,smoking hand bags, graven images to J C and Statues of the Virgin Mary. A sop for the females of the R C persuasion who are second class citizens in the eyes of the R C C.
Their life is to be brood mares to produce enought kids to overwhelm the Protestant population
Posted by Ed | 22.03.10, 19:26 GMT
I do not wish to sound like I am making excuses for those who may have covered up in the past, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. In the period before these scandals came to light via Brendan Smith, society and I mean not just the Catholic church dealt with child sex abuse by cover up because thats the way it was dealth with. ( if dad or a member of the family was sexually abusing you, you went to your mother who in turn reproached Dad and that was hopefully the end of it ?? Swept under the carpet because of the shame--But thats how it was dealth with in days gone by.. I think it wrong to judge yesterdays standards by todays new enlightenment.
Posted by maurice quinlan | 22.03.10, 17:17 GMT
As I understand it R C priests can listen to Confessions and absolve criminals from their crimes and are not allowed by the R C church to advise the Authorities about what they have been told. Must be great comfort for the crims but what about the victims comfort and right to justice.Seems the R C church cares more about crims, pervs and their church rather than poor defenceless children. Another example of the R C C considering itself above the law of the land.
Time the R C C was brought to heel and treated the same as Protestant Churchs
Ed
Posted by Ed | 22.03.10, 17:08 GMT
I understand now why the little parades of kids accompanied by nuns going in and out of the nazareth lodge always looked so sad.
Suggest the R C C rip down that eyesore of a derelict chapel and turn it into a memorial for the abused.
Ed
Posted by Ed | 22.03.10, 10:43 GMT
Ryan,Get a grip. Lets's not go back to the Plantation etc.These are crimes by R C's against R C's committed in the days of the Beatles, TV and educated and so called civilized population
Posted by Ed | 22.03.10, 09:45 GMT
These revelations are a stain on our catholic and Irish heritage alike. It galls me that people like Martin McGuiness would dare to capitalize on the catastrophe that faces our faith and country with self-perpetuating positions presented as a barometer of cleansing and reconciliation, much like Gerry Adams, an individual who purports to represent the Catholic people of West Belfast yet cannot stand steady to the very tenants of faith to which he committed. Faith in a loving God and confidence in human intermediaries, spiritual or political, are diametrically opposed. We have Christ in Eucharist and the additional sacraments we are blessed with, untainted and unconditional. Now is a time to focus on faith, the Eucharist, and reconciliation, not the self-depreciating views of politicians or angry Catholic acolytes checking in on Sunday. Stand up for our faith, damn it!
Posted by Colum | 20.03.10, 20:56 GMT
it is shame she does not feel the same about laying bare the sins of the Plantation and the evils of the follow -on "Protestant State for a Protestant People".
Posted by ryan | 19.03.10, 20:48 GMT
it is shame she does not feel the same about laying bare the sins of the Plantation and the evils of the follow -on "Protestant State for a Protestant People".
Posted by ryan | 19.03.10, 20:45 GMT
Dear Lindy,I thank you from the bottom of my heart for standing up to the catholic church on behalf of us the abused.
I was nine years old when I was abused by the Christian Brothers and my mother was made to sign an oath of silence.
I sent an email to writeback on Tuesday about it,but have not seen my letter on it.
Maybe it is because I don't want my real name put on it.
I go under the name of Joe.Abused Newtownabbey.
I have wrote letters in before,but this is the first time i've send an email as i've just learned to use a computer for the first time.
please let me know if you get this email.
thank you.
Joe.
Posted by Joe.Abused Newtownabbey | 19.03.10, 09:02 GMT
"Covering up evil didn’t work in the past"...I thought I was reading about Stormont up to 1970 for a second.
Angela Merkel put it very well last week when she said it's ludicrous to single out Catholicism and institutional abuse of children - in whatever form. She is not Catholic.
Like most all Catholics I am OUTRAGED by what has been revealed, and with probably more to come. The guilty, including those who helped cover it up, must go to jail.
The INSTITUTE of the Catholic Church will now rightly be reformed. This will be a GENUINE REFORMATION from WITHIN and not a spin off separate "reformed"copy which proved to be every bit as corrupt as the original within a generation or so.
(See Oliver Cromwell etc and CofE Bishops and clergy)
I await with interest the inevitable investigation into OTHER than Catholic wrongs. When exposed I will not gloat in poisonous blind hatred - the hallmark of so many who read these columns.
Rather will I pray for them, as for my own.
Posted by Observer 2 | 18.03.10, 22:25 GMT
Please give my best to you friend.
Sincerely,
Quico Antonio Lostaunau
Yaqui Nation
Member of SNAP
Posted by Frank Lostaunau | 18.03.10, 19:48 GMT
When Victims of clergy sexual victiization try to tell what happened to they, so called, "Good Catholics" lash at to them in anger and hatred. If the Church Hierarchy spoke out (In the Vernacular) about what their clergy did to innocent children and young people, they would be hailed as heros. But, this is fantasy. The Cowardly Hierarchy would never tell the entire truth about the sexual butchery of the innocent of our lost & begotten Church because their own complicity in these horrors would make them criminally liable.
Posted by Victoria Martin | 18.03.10, 18:55 GMT
Good article! But, just remember what your catechism says about forgiveness of sin: No admission of guilt, no contrition. No contrition, no forgiveness. No forgiveness, the sin remains. The sin here is retributive justice for the victims. In their overwhelming concern for the image of their church, every prelate from the pope on down has neglected their own teaching on retributive justice. Ergo, their sin remains.
Posted by Amos | 18.03.10, 17:45 GMT
The burden of hurt, reproach and shame that the victims of abuse from Catholic clerics must be intolerable; these people need all the support and help that is available from every strand of society.
As for the system of secret oaths, vows or just plain cover ups that are inherent in the Church of Rome, the time has come for a root and branch public investigation. The so called smoke screen of Canon Law must be removed, along with, secret confessions, oaths and such like clandestine contrivances.
Perhaps the best solution would be for Roman Catholics to reject the blighted dogmas of their leaders and cry to God directly.
Posted by Rev Mervyn Cotton | 18.03.10, 16:03 GMT
The problem goes right to the heart of the Catholic church - the total obedience to the institution and its man made rules. Independent analysis is crushed. It is no coincidence that there has been such a high incidence of fascism in Catholic countries - Nazism started in Catholic southern Germany, Mussolini's Italy, Franco's Spain and numerous south american countries like Argentina and Chile. In these countries it was easier to 'train' the people not to question the hierarchy because they were used to it. The protestant countries of northern europe and the english speaking british commonwealth resisted fascism because of their protestant culture of questioning authority and free thinking.
Posted by Jon | 18.03.10, 15:50 GMT
What comes first, a untrue image of the RCC or the truth of the youngest members of the RCC? The pope must resign as well as anyother members of the RCC administration that where ever any part of the crime of cover up on any case of sex abuse of a child. All RCC religious that ever commit the crime of sex abuse to a child must be deflocked at once. It is time for a new pope as well as Vatican III Councel to turn the RCC around to truth. The RC membership should not go into any RCC forceing the priest to say mass outside until real change in the RCC administration takes place. The leadership of bishop Martin of Dublin has awaken Ireland as well as else where in the world for truth in the RCC administration. Know RCC history and ask questions.
Posted by phl | 18.03.10, 14:57 GMT