But Victims Angry That the Vatican Won't Accept Blame
By John Cooney
Irish Independent [Vatican]
October 27, 2006
http://unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1712940&issue_id=14812
The Pope last night spoke emotionally for the first time of his personal "anguish and horror" at the horrendous clerical child sex abuse scandals in Wexford.
The Pontiff broke his silence exactly a year after a Government inquiry found the scale of abuse in the diocese of Ferns made it one of the worst places in the world for systematic rape of young children by abusing priests.
The Pope's expression of his "deep sorrow and distress" for the devastation caused to the victims was conveyed earlier yesterday to the Bishop of Ferns, Denis Brennan, during a private audience at the Vatican.
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| Pope Benedict: sorrow |
Bishop Brennan, who took over the Ferns diocese last April, is on the five-yearly statutory visit to the Pope. For the past two weeks he and 33 other bishops have been meeting the senior heads of the various congregations which make up the Curia, the papal civil service.
Ferns director of Communications, Fr John Carroll, last night said the Pope had expressed his deep sorrow and distress at the suffering endured by the victims of child sexual abuse involving some priests in the diocese.
The Pope had asked Bishop Brennan to assure those, who have been sexually abused by priests, of his concern for them and his deep regret at the harm and suffering they have experienced.
"His prayer at this time is for healing and peace of all those who have suffered," the statement added.
According to Fr Carroll, Pope Benedict asked Bishop Brennan to convey to all the faithful of the diocese of Ferns his care and solicitude for them, as Supreme Pastor of the Universal Church.
"The Holy Father expressed prayerful solidarity with the lay-faithful, religious and priests of Ferns in the sufferings they have endured and in the deep pain caused by the scandal of sexual abuse of the young, by some of those entrusted with the sacred ministry.
"The Pope expressed his personal anguish and horror at the incomprehensible behaviour of those clergy, whose actions have devastated human lives and profoundly betrayed the trust of children, young people, their families, parish communities and the entire diocesan family."
But last night the Pope came under criticism from Colm O'Gorman, the founder of the One in Four Victims group, for the Vatican's continued failure to accept blame for what had been covered up in Wexford for decades.
The Ferns report found 26 offending clergy in the diocese but only named six of them.
While welcoming the Pope's belated statement as "significant", Mr O'Gorman told the Irish Independent his apology had not addressed the substantive issues.
Mr O'Gorman said the Pope merely described as "incomprehensible" the criminal and immoral behaviour of priests such as the late Fr Sean Fortune and Fr Jim Grennan.
"Sexual abuse of any child is of course incomprehensible behaviour," Mr O'Gorman said. "But even more incomprehensible is the actions of any institution such as the Catholic Church which covered up such abuse. The Vatican was complicit in all of this.
The Vatican and the Pope have yet again failed to address the institutional failure which extended from diocesan level all the way to the Vatican, and which permitted the sexual abuse of countless children."
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