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	'Industrial Action' Is the Only Way This Catholic Church Will Listen to Its People The Irish Mass-Going Population Should Take a Stand and Leave Churches Empty Next Week By Ciara Kelly Sunday Independent December 6, 2009 http://www.independent.ie/national-news/industrial-action-is-the-only-way-this-catholic-church-will-listen-to-its-people-1965719.html The Ferns report, the Ryan report, and now the Murphy Commission report on child sexual abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese, make for devastating reading and have left the Faithful of the Church reeling. It seems clear from the inadequate response of the hierarchy to the damning content within the reports that, sadly, once again the Church has failed to grasp the hurt and anger of its flock. Worse yet, it has failed to fully accept, or perhaps fully realise, the wreckage it has visited on the lives of countless thousands of survivors of child sexual abuse at the hands of its priests. Catholic guilt, it seems, does not apply to the clergy. Despite the Murphy report's unambiguous statement that there was a "deliberate policy of concealment" of sexual predators within the Catholic Church which allowed them to serially abuse children in multiple parishes -- parishes oblivious to the monsters being sent into their midst -- they just don't seem to get it. Bishop Willie Walsh said he "will not stand in judgement on other priests in this matter" and has used terms such as a desire to get "a head on a plate" to describe the outrage expressed since the latest publication. Dr Walsh later apologised for his remarks, saying: "My comments showed poor judgement on my part and I would like to acknowledge that and apologise for the distress caused." The Church, on both an institutional and individual level, has failed to show Christian decency in dealing with these paedophile priests or their victims, facilitating reckless endangerment of children in its care. Indeed, lay people throughout parishes in this country have shown greater moral authority than the Church on this matter, and surely a church without moral authority has negated its own purpose. The "maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the Church and the preservation of its assets" was more important than justice for the victims, states the report, and when you just think about that for a moment, it's truly shocking. For who among us would consider it reasonable to protect the perpetrator of child rape ahead of the victim? At every turn, the Church as a group acted to protect itself and its priests from scandal, moving serial rapists from one parish to the next, without a thought for the next child about to fall into the hands of the abusers. Perhaps the Church's denial of the scale of the abuse was more than craven self protection. Perhaps deep denial was the only way they could cope with the enormity of their sin. Like the Ryan report, which stated clearly that this was not a case of "a few bad apples", but the pervasive culture within the clergy, the Murphy report states that the vast majority of those priests who knew about instances of child sexual abuse turned a blind eye to it. The abuse of children took place on altars, in sacristies and in even in their sick beds with their mothers in the kitchen below. If this was any institution other than the Catholic Church, it would be disbanded and outlawed. Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick -- whose inaction was described by the Murphy report as "inexcusable", having repeatedly failed to protect children within his diocese -- has said, despite many calls for his resignation, that his future now rests with the people and priests of Limerick. Indeed, a statement of support for him from priests in Limerick emerged last week -- democracy, it seems, is acceptable to the Church when it suits. But it's my belief that Bishop Murray, Cardinal Connell and many others within the hierarchy, including the Papal Nuncio -- who refused to co-operate with the State-sanctioned Murphy commission -- do not believe that the congregation has the ability or will to call them to task for their criminal collusion in this orgy of abuse. But that's not the case. All week, I've been listening to the anger and the growing sense of betrayal expressed by the faithful on radio and television programmes, emerging from churches appalled and bewildered by the inadequate response from their priests and their bishops to the rape of their children. This is not their church as they knew it. This is not the church they want. This lack of atonement and this shabby response to the scale of the heinous crimes against little children is beyond belief. Despite their self-regard, the hierarchy is not the rock upon which the Church is built. The real heart of the Church is the congregation. The faithful who are disillusioned and angry shouldn't allow this shameful scandal to blow over. They shouldn't allow this culture of deceit and arrogance to represent Irish Catholicism. They shouldn't allow these evil and weak men wrest the Church from the hands of ordinary, genuine Catholics who are appalled by these crimes. So many of us raised as Catholics have fallen away from the Church over the years, disenfranchised by aspects of doctrine or repeated scandal. Many have spent that time searching other spiritual avenues for solace, or to mark the life events of their families. Did we recognise, as we drifted off, that we were actually being denied something of value -- a holistic and compassionate church? So, after much soul searching, I suggest in this current climate of industrial action, that there's a strike that is actually worth participating in. Mass-goers should make next Sunday, December 13, a day of protest. Irish Catholics in good conscience should withdraw from the sacrament of Mass that day, and let the empty pews send a powerful message to the Catholic hierarchy that enough is enough. You will rape our children no more. You will hide behind collars and cassocks no more. You will show real contrition and understanding of how badly you have injured your flock, or we will not attend your church. You do not act in our name. Silent churches would be a fitting tribute to the many who lost their childhoods and had their lives forever shaped by the actions of those who were supposed to protect them -- but instead betrayed them in the worst possible way. Those children had no voice. We should be their voice now. If you truly reject the abomination that has occurred, you should act. No Catholic congregation has ever staged a strike, despite clerical child abuse cases coming to light globally. Let the Irish congregation be known for something other than turning a blind eye to the abuse of their children. Let it be known for showing real moral courage in facing down the hierarchy and demanding more from its Church than hollow words and empty promises -- all underwritten by a watertight insurance policy. The eyes of the world are on us, horrified by what has come to light. The time has come for redemption. See Pages 20, 21
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