Earth Times
December 7, 2009
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/298182,pope-summons-top-irish-clerics-over-child-sex-abuse-scandal.html
VATICAN CITY -- Vatican City/Dublin - Pope Benedict XVI has summoned Ireland's top archbishops for a meeting at the Vatican on Friday to discuss a clerical child sex abuse scandal that has engulfed the Irish Catholic church, officials announced Monday. "I can confirm that the Holy Father has invited Cardinal Sean Brady, president of the Irish Bishop's Conference and the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, for a meeting in Rome on Friday, November 11," the papal spokesman said.
The meeting aims to "inform and evaluate on the painful event affecting the Church in Ireland in the wake of the publication of the Murphy commission report," spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said.
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He was referring to a report by a commission of investigation headed by Judge Yvonne Murphy which looked at how child sexual abuse complaints were dealt with by the authorities from 1975 to 2004.
The report details a litany of abuse perpetrated by priests against more than 300 victims.
The commission, has said it has no doubt that clerical child abuse was covered up by the Archdiocese of Dublin and other church authorities.
In particular, the commission found that the current Bishop of Limerick, Donal Murray, reacted "inexcusably" to one known case of clerical child abuse while he handled a number of other complaints and suspicions badly.
Murray travelled to Rome on Sunday where he is expected to tender his resignation to the pontiff.
The Bishop of Limerick's initial response to the report, that he would not resign and that his "conscience was clear," triggered an enraged reaction from the public and abuse victims.
But on Saturday Brady called on all named in the Murphy report to "act soon" in light of the commissions' findings, remarks that were interpreted as a call for Murray to resign.
The commission's report also accuses Irish police of "connivance" with the Catholic Church in effectively stifling one complaint, and allowing the perpetrator to leave the country.
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