By Sarah Mac Donald
The Pilot
February 25, 2011
http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=12996
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| Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin looks on as Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley washes the feet of an abuse survivor during the "Liturgy of Lament and Repentance" at Dublin's Pro-Cathedral Feb. 20. CNS photo/John Mc Elroy |
Publicly atoning for the Church's failures is "an important element of asking the forgiveness of those who have been harmed by priests and bishops," Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley told survivors of clerical abuse at a Liturgy of Lament and Repentance in Dublin Feb. 20.
During an emotional service at St Mary's Pro Cathedral in the heart of the Irish capital, Cardinal O'Malley, who was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to oversee the visitation to Ireland's largest Catholic diocese, told the packed church, "On behalf of the Holy Father, I ask forgiveness for the sexual abuse of children perpetrated by priests, and the past failures of the Church's hierarchy here and in Rome, and the failure to respond appropriately to the problem of sexual abuse."
He reminded the congregation that Jesus was always on the side of the victim, bringing compassion and mercy.
Cardinal O'Malley, who referred in his reflection to his family's roots in the west of Ireland, added, "We want to be part of a Church that puts survivors, the victims of abuse first, ahead of self-interest, reputation and institutional needs."
"Our desire is that our Church reflects that love and concern for the survivors of sexual abuse and their families" and that it would "be tireless in assuring the protection of children in our Church and in society," he said.
At the beginning of the prayer service, both Cardinal O'Malley and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin prostrated themselves in silent prayer before a bare altar behind which stood a simple large wooden cross. The act of prostration is usually incorporated in the Church's Good Friday liturgy as a gesture of repentance for sins.
Later, on their knees, Cardinal O'Malley, robed in his Capuchin habit, joined Archbishop Martin, who was robed in a simple soutane, to wash and dry the feet of five women and three men representing survivors of abuse and their families, in a public gesture of contrition.
Afterwards, Father Paddy McCafferty, who was one of the eight, and who wrote the liturgy for the Service of Lament and Repentance, described the moment as "very emotional."
The eight also included Marie Collins who was abused by "Father Edmondus" as detailed in the Murphy Report; Christine Buckley, who founded the Aislinnn support group for women who attended the industrial schools run by the Mercy Sisters; and 39-year-old Darren McGavin from Ballyfermot who was sexually abused as a child by the notorious pedophile priest, Tony Walsh, as well as a mother of a survivor and the wife of a survivor. Some wept and held hands as they descended from the altar area.
In his address, Archbishop Martin told the congregation, "There are men and women in this cathedral today to whom we must express our immense gratitude for the fact that they did not remain silent. Despite the hurt it cost them, they had the courage to speak out, to speak out, to speak out and to speak out again and again, courageously and with determination even in the face of unbelief and rejection."
Among the congregation listening to the archbishop's words was his predecessor, Cardinal Desmond Connell, who attended in a wheel-chair. Extracts from both the Ryan and Murphy Reports were read out during the service, detailing the systemic failures in the Church to address institutional abuse and clerical child abuse. The extract from the Ryan Report concluded with the statement, "The lessons of the past should be learnt."
"It would be easy for all of us to go away this afternoon somehow feeling good but feeling also 'that is that now,' 'it's over,' 'now we can get back to normal.'" But Archbishop Martin pledged, "The Archdiocese of Dublin can never rest until the day in which the last victim has found his or her peace and he or she can rejoice in being fully the person that God in his plan wants them to be."
He said, "The first step towards any form of healing is to allow the truth to come out." Thanking the survivors for their courage, Archbishop Martin apologized to them for the insensitivity, hurtful and nasty reactions that they may have encountered as they campaigned for justice and he appealed to them to continue to speak out. "There is still a long path to journey in honesty before we can truly merit forgiveness," he said.
Acknowledging that while some survivors in their hurt and disgust had rejected the Church they had once loved, paradoxically, he said, their abandonment of it may have helped "purify the Church through challenging it to face the truth, to move out of denial, to recognize the evil that was done and the hurt that was caused."
"This afternoon is only a first step," the archbishop said, expressing a view that was echoed by a number of the survivors after the service.
Father McCafferty described the service as "the beginning."
One 63-year-old survivor, who spent 12 years in an orphanage run by nuns and another four years in an industrial school run by the Christian Brothers told The Pilot that the service had been a "liberation" for him. "I never thought I would live to see this day -- a day that the Church, through Archbishop Martin, gave full recognition of the horror of the hidden Ireland we now know was there," he said.
However a small protest was held outside the doors of the Pro Cathedral by some survivors who did not wish to participate, describing the service as a "stunt."
After the service, Cardinal O'Malley met with survivors, some of whom thanked him for his participation and some of whom used the opportunity to express their anger over their treatment by the Church.
Speaking to The Pilot, Cardinal O'Malley said he could certainly understand why people are angry. "It is not a matter of a before and after. Dealing with our history and trying to make amends is going to continue as part of the life of the Church -- and trying to make sure children are safe in all our institutions -- that is the paramount value we must strive for," he said.
Asked if he saw any similarities between what the Church in Dublin was going through and what the Archdiocese of Boston had undergone, he replied, "There are many similar things."
He added, "I think the important thing is to continue the outreach and make sure that we do everything possible so that our parishes and institutions are as safe as possible and that the great sins of the past are not revisited on people in the future." He said the outreach to survivors "who had been so severely damaged" and their families must continue.
"My hope is that other institutions and other religions will stand with us in trying to deal with this problem which in the Church has very special dimensions of horror because of what the Church is supposed to represent," he said.
Asked if the Church was now in a position of giving a lead to the rest of society in tackling child abuse, the cardinal acknowledged that "most of the cases of abuse take place outside of the Church and hopefully this will make people more aware -- we need more people to speak about this to see what can be done so that all children can be safe -- everywhere."
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