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	Dublin Archbishop Apologises to Clerics' Sex Abuse Victims By Ray McMenamin Anglican Media Melbourne (Australia) December 2, 2009 http://www.melbourne.anglican.com.au/main.php?pg=news&news_id=22952&s=157 The Roman Catholic archbishop of Dublin has said that a cover up by the church of allegations of sexual abuse of children by clerics compounded the suffering of victims and resulted in more such cases. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin apologised for the way the church dealt with the allegations after an Irish government-commissioned report said church authorities had covered up abuse. "The damage done to children abused by priests can never be undone," Martin told a media conference in the Irish capital after the 26 November publication of the report into how the church handled allegations of abuse by its clerics. "As archbishop of Dublin and as Diarmuid Martin, a person, I offer to each and every survivor, my apology, my sorrow and my shame for what happened," he said. The report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin criticised archbishops and auxiliary bishops in Dublin as well as the Holy See's ambassador, the papal nuncio to Ireland, and the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It concluded that bishops in the archdiocese were more concerned with the reputation of the church than the welfare of children. The report stated, "The commission has no doubt that clerical child sexual abuse was covered up by the Archdiocese of Dublin and other church authorities over much of the period covered by the commission's remit. The structures and rules of the Catholic Church facilitated that cover-up." Four archbishops, John Charles McQuaid (who served from 1940 to 1972), Dermot Ryan (1972-84), Kevin McNamara (1984-87) and Desmond Connell (1988-2004), were, according to the almost 650-page report, aware of complaints of sexual abuse of children by priests of the diocese. "No words of apology will ever be sufficient," Archbishop Martin said. "The damage done to children abused by priests can never be undone." Martin's predecessor as archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Connell, himself criticised in the report, expressed regret at his failures. "I have experienced distress and bewilderment that those placed in a position of sacred trust could be guilty of such heinous offences and cause such appalling harm to vulnerable young people," he stated. "I wish to express without reservation my bitter regret that failures on my part contributed to the suffering of victims in any form." The commission of investigation was appointed in March 2006. It selected a representative sample of complaints or allegations of child sexual abuse made in the period from 1 January 1975 to 1 May 2004 against Catholic clergy operating under the aegis of the archdiocese of Dublin. The sample consisted of 46 priests and more than of 320 children.
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