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	Pope Lambasts Irish Bishops over Cases of 'Sexual Abuse' Victims Want Action, Not Words after Vatican Talks Arab Times February 16, 2010 http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/149723/t/Pope-lambasts-Irish-bishops-over-cases-of-%E2%80%98sexual-abuse%E2%80%99/Default.aspx VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday rebuked Irish bishops over a paedophilia priest scandal and urged them to restore the Church's "spiritual and moral credibility," the Vatican said. The pope called child abuse a "heinous crime" and a "grave sin" as he held the second of two days of talks with two dozen bishops seeking to limit damage over the scandal, a Vatican statement said. "All those present recognized that this grave crisis has led to a breakdown in trust in the Church's leadership." The pope faulted "the failure of the Irish Church authorities for years to act effectively over cases of sexual abuse against young people," the statement said. "The bishops spoke frankly of the sense of pain and anger, betrayal, scandal and shame expressed to them on numerous occasions." The bishops vowed to cooperate with Irish courts investigating sexual abuse charges, the Vatican added. The Irish delegation was led by Cardinal Sean Brady, primate of all Ireland, who in December met Benedict along with Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin over the crisis after two judicial reports into the abuse. Support groups in Ireland and the United States slammed the talks, saying the pope should go to Ireland to apologise for the abuse. "The Irish people and the victims are entitled to expect firm actions from the pope," Irish Survivors of Child Abuse group (SOCA) founder John Kelly told AFP. "We are entitled to expect that the pope make those who committed crimes or covered up crimes, including bishops, be made accountable," he said. "The words coming out at the moment seem to be positive. Whether they will act upon them and whether they will go far enough is another matter. We need to see the words turned into action," Kelly added. A US group dismissed the Vatican talks as a "carefully orchestrated public relations move." "Does anyone honestly think that the very same men who ignored and concealed child sex crimes for decades will... suddenly be part of the solution, instead of part of the problem?" asked Barbara Dorris of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. She deplored a "centuries-old, deeply rooted culture of self-serving secrecy perpetuated by a rigid, ancient, all-male monarchy." Victims of sexual abuse by Irish clerics want action rather than words, a support group said Tuesday while acknowleding some "positive" signs from a meeting of Irish bishops with the pope. Speaking on the second day of Vatican talks on a paedophile priest scandal, Irish Survivors of Child Abuse group (SOCA) founder John Kelly added that he hoped Pope Benedict XVI would eventually come to Ireland to apologise. "The Irish people and the victims are entitled to expect firm actions from the pope," he told AFP. "We are entitled to expect that the pope make those who committed crimes or covered up crimes, including bishops, be made accountable. "We are entitled to expect that the pope restore the honour to the Irish nation that has been so severely damaged by these scandals and by the so-called princes of the Irish church." The pope held a second day of talks Tuesday with two dozen Irish bishops, seeking a way forward after the scandal that has rocked mainly Catholic Ireland. The Irish delegation was led by Cardinal Sean Brady, primate of all Ireland, who in December met Benedict along with Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin over the crisis after two shocking judicial reports into the abuse. Kelly added: "The words coming out at the moment seem to be positive. Whether they will act upon them and whether they will go far enough is another matter. We need to see the words turned into action. "We are waiting for a letter from the pope, we expect all those things in it. At the moment, it would appear the words are very strong and they are exactly what we need but they are only words at the moment." The pope must find out the truth of what had happened, he added. "Then we want the pope, the church, to compensate the victims. Then we want him to get rid of all the bishops who have done wrong then he can come to Ireland, then he can come and apologise," he said.
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