Pope to Write to Irish Catholics about Shameful Clerical Sex Abuse Benedict to Promise Concrete Actions to Prevent Repeat of Long-Term Abuse but Victims Demand Visit and Apology, Guardian (United Kingdom), December 11, 2009

Pope to Write to Irish Catholics about 'Shameful' Clerical Sex Abuse
Benedict to Promise Concrete Actions to Prevent Repeat of Long-Term Abuse but Victims Demand Visit and Apology

Guardian (United Kingdom)
December 11, 2009

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/11/pope-irish-catholics-sex-abuse

Pope Benedict XVI is "deeply disturbed and distressed" by a report detailing clerical sexual abuse in the archdiocese of Dublin and is writing to Irish Catholics to help them ensure the future safety of children in the church, the Vatican said today.

The pontiff wished "once more to express his profound regret at the actions of some members of the clergy who have betrayed their solemn promises to God, as well as the trust placed in them by the victims and their families, and society at large". His statement followed a meeting yesterday with Irish bishops and senior-ranking members of the Roman Curia to discuss the crisis.

The pope greets Cardinal Sean Brady of Ireland at the Vatican on Monday. Benedict XVI met senior Irish clergy today to discuss a response to the Murphy report on clerical sex abuse.
Photo by Alessandra Tarantino

Benedict shared the "outrage, betrayal and shame felt by so many of the faithful in Ireland", according to the Vatican.

But many victims of abuse said the pope's statement was not enough. Only a papal visit and a public apology in Ireland would allow the Vatican to atone for decades of clerical child sex abuse, a leading victims' organisation said.

Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (Soca) said the "sin against our children was so immense that it requires an immense gesture on the pope's part".

Irish Soca said a papal visit and apology should be combined with a "diocese-by-diocese inquiry across the island of Ireland" to investigate the scale of abuse of children by priests and religious orders.

The meeting in Rome was held in response to the Murphy report, which examined how the Irish church and state authorities dealt with allegations of child abuse in the country's most populous Catholic parish.

Formally known as the Report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, it looked at abuse cases spanning a 30-year period. The three-volume report found that police colluded with the church in covering up the abuse and that the church was more preoccupied with the "maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the church and the preservation of its assets" than justice for the victims.

It was the second report this year to examine abuse in the Irish Republic. In May the Ryan report published detailed accounts from more than 2,000 people who said they had suffered physical and sexual abuse at Catholic-run orphanages and industrial schools.

Sex abuse scandals have dogged the Catholic church throughout the decade, which began with a series of explosive revelations in Boston and other US dioceses. Aware of the disaffection and anger felt by the faithful over the treatment meted out to victims – and the leniency shown to abusers – the Vatican stressed that steps would be taken to prevent future damage.

"He [the pope] assures all concerned that the church will continue to follow this grave matter with the closest attention in order to understand better how these shameful events came to pass and how best to develop effective and secure strategies to prevent any recurrence."

The Holy See took "very seriously" the central issues raised by the report, including questions "concerning the governance of local church leaders with ultimate responsibility for the pastoral care of children".

The Vatican's official spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, stressed that the pastoral letter which Pope Benedict planned to address to Irish Catholics would give "concrete indications and not just express regret, to give a reply to a dramatic situation". "Given the urgency of the problem, even if we don't yet have a date for the publication of the [letter], it won't be before long," he said.

Vatican heavyweights – including the prefect for the Congregation of the Clergy, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, the prefect for the Congregation of Bishops, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, and the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Levada, as well as the papal nuncio in Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza – attended today's meeting between the pope and the Irish delegation.