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	Response to Clerical Child Abuse Report The Irish Times December 6, 2009 http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2009/1207/1224260239371.html Madam, – Dr Vincent Twomey, SVD, called on all the bishops mentioned in the Murphy report to resign immediately (December 3rd). The reason he gave is, “they are deemed guilty of putting the interests of the institution above the safety and welfare of children”. In 2001, every diocesan bishop in the Catholic Church around the the world received a letter from the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, instructing them to refer complaints of clerical child sex abuse to the Congregation which would then decide how they should be dealt with. This directive from Rome, which effectively encouraged bishops to commit criminal offences in many jurisdictions, including Ireland, by not reporting the crime first to the police, certainly put the “interest of the institution above the safety and welfare of children.” Will Dr Twomey be calling for Pope Benedict’s resignation also? – Yours, etc, Fr SEAN McDONAGH, Dalgan Park, Navan, Co Meath. Madam, – In 1980, one of our most distinguished paediatricians, the late Prof Neil O’Doherty of the Children’s Hospital, Temple Street and UCD gave a talk to the paediatrics section of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, in Dublin. His subject was “The Sexual Abuse of Children”. The perpetrators were family members and others, he said. In the early 1970s, he had published a book entitled The Battered Child, dealing with the physical abuse of children. This was well received internationally. Sadly, his lecture in 1980 was received in total silence by the professional audience, and several people left during it. There was no applause at the end and subsequently, he was reviled for presenting such a communication in Ireland where such abuses did not happen. Prof O’Doherty, who was a dear friend of mine, was deeply hurt, but not surprised, by the manner in which his talk had been received, based as it was on his wide experience in the US, Canada, Britain and Ireland. – Yours, etc, NIALL O’DONOHOE, Mount St Anne’s, Milltown, Dublin 6. Madam, – How could men who were supposed to be dedicated to God and to the welfare of God’s children sink to the level of betraying their God and destroying innocent children, doing them almost irreparable harm? I believe the answer, simplistic though it may seem to some, is that these men allowed Satan to corrupt them by neglecting humble and sincere prayerful contact with God, a vital and essential part of their priestly training. Many people tend not to believe in the existence of Satan, yet Christ spoke very clearly and emphatically many times about Satan, spirit of evil. Christ gave the example of frequent prayer to God as vital in the continuous battle with Satan. He warned his future first pope, Simon Peter, that Satan was the dangerous enemy who would strive to destroy him and the church. St John in his Gospel relates very dramatically how Satan entered into and possessed the heart of Judas, a priest of Christ, corrupting him so that he went out to betray the Son of God (John, Chapter 13 Verses 21-28). Satan in his evil endeavour in corrupting numbers of priests throughout the world, strives thereby to destroy the Church. The priests who betrayed their vocation must firstly have themselves cut off contact with their God in the discipline of humble and sincere prayer, which is a vital part of every priest’s daily life. Like every person in Ireland, but particularly as a priest, I am shocked, humiliated and devastated by the horrible events as depicted in the inquiry into the Dublin diocese and I pray every day for all the people who as innocent children were so terribly harmed and wounded, and I pray God’s forgiveness for those who inflicted the harm and suffering. St Peter following the warning of Christ admonished the early Church. “Be sober, be watchful, your adversary the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith.” (First letter of St Peter ch.5 v.8-9). Alas, Satan in his wiles infiltrated the minds of church leaders, who opted for worldly wisdom as opposed to divine wisdom in deciding to save the church from scandal as they saw it, rather than protecting God’s innocent children. The way forward for all, but especially for those in authority, is a renewed and continuous dedication to following Christ in the example of his own life and through putting into practice the prescriptions he gave us in his sermon on the Mount. All this can only be achieved by humble, continuous and sincere contact with Christ in prayer. – Yours, etc, Fr CON McGILLICUDDY, Grace Park Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 9. Madam, – While Archbishop Diarmuid Martin deserves some respect for opening the files for the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, it is now time for him to step down and play no part in any further inquiries. Likewise, it beggars belief that Garda Commissioner Murphy has appointed a member of the force to commence investigations into how the gardai handled complaints of child sex abuse against members of the clergy. Have these gentlemen never heard the legal maxim nemo debet esse judex in propria causa . . . no one should be a judge in his own cause. The rule also applies to any cause in which he has an interest. As it is apparent that the vast majority of uninvolved priests turned a blind eye to their paedophile colleagues, surely it is time to call in my brother-priest, the estimable Pat Buckley, to hose out the stench of corruption and clean the place up. – Yours, etc, Fr TED FLANAGAN, Appleby, North Lincolnshire, England. Madam, – I am not a churchgoer, but I’ve always had an interest in symmetry. If it is deemed appropriate to take multimillions from the religious orders for the harm they have done, should monies not accrue to them for the good they have done? Or would that need another expensively commissioned report? – Yours, etc, BARRY O’RAFFERTY, Milverton, Co Dublin.
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