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Editor's Viewpoint: Abuse victims want action, not words
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
There were many fine words from Pope Benedict after his unprecedented two day meeting with Irish bishops on the issue of child abuse.
His description of the crimes as ‘heinous’ and ‘a grave sin’ and his call for the Bishops to address the problems of the past with determination and resolve and the current crisis in the church in Ireland with honesty and courage, echoed the revulsion people feel about clerical abuse of children.
But neither the Pope nor Cardinal Sean Brady, head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, put forward any practical steps the hierarchy will, or can, take to redress the wrongs done to so many young |people over such a protracted period of time. It is fine to use theological terms like repentance and atonement, but victims want action.
There was no suggestion that the victims’ principal demands — the resignation of all the Bishops named in the Murphy report into child abuse and a meeting with the Pope when he comes to the UK — will be met. Of course, the task of rebuilding faith in the church in Ireland and in the clergy lies with the Irish hierarchy. They must ensure that every assistance is given to the civil authorities investigating allegations of abuse and that victims are treated sympathetically.
The hierarchy should also consider extending its investigations north of the border. While we already know of some clerical paedophiles such as Fr Brendan Smyth who served in Northern Ireland, there may be other allegations which have gone unheeded.
The Pope recognises that the Catholic Church in Ireland has been badly shaken by the whole clerical abuse issue. His hope that it can regain its authority may be more wishful thinking than reality. The Irish hierarchy has an enormous job to do just to retain its current congregations never mind build upon them.
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The Pope is talking to the wrong people. He should be meeting with a room full of the Victims of Clergy Sexual Violation, instead of with the Bishops who enabled these crimes in the first place. There are only two groups who know more about this subject than anyone on earth: (1) The Perpetrators. (2) The Victims.
Posted by Victoria Martin | 18.02.10, 00:20 GMT
This is nothing new at all. In every country the pope visits if he has to address the sexual abuse crisis, he offers nice, pretty-sounding, but EMPTY words. There is never any action taken, just words. He keeps reminding us that the church has done so much good in the past, as if this is just a bump in the road. To us, survivors, it is not a bump in our roads, but a huge chasm that can never be filled in. Shame on the pope for trying to make us believe that it was the Irish bishops fault, when he was privvy to all this information while it was happening.
Posted by Gabe | 17.02.10, 17:34 GMT
What did anyone expect?.....The Roman Catholic Church is only interested in survival...Any expressions of sorrow are only because they were found out!
Posted by john g. | 17.02.10, 16:41 GMT
What a shame a golden opportunity has been wasted:
- A refusal by the Pope to accept the resignation letters from three auxiliary bishops that are still sitting in his papal In-Box
- Failure to demand resignations the rape of children in the Dublin archdiocese
- Failure to discuss the letters and demands of the victims of abuse themselves
- A missed opportunity by the Vatican to apologise to, or even commit to meeting, the same victims of clerical abuse
- Not a single mention of the two fingers that Giuseppe Leanza recently gave to the Dáil Committee
- Not a single commitment to uncovering and addressing the sex abuse that has gone on in other dioceses
Posted by John | 17.02.10, 15:04 GMT
This type of abuse will keep croping up whenever the vatican cant hide it, our children deserve more ,we demand more instead of being fobbed of like insignifigant people
Posted by liam | 17.02.10, 12:03 GMT