Emotional Archbishop Speaks of ‘shame’ of Irish Child Abuse Coverups, by John Bingham, The Telegraph, July 21, 2011

Emotional Archbishop Speaks of ‘shame’ of Irish Child Abuse Cover-ups

By John Bingham
The Telegraph
July 21, 2011

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8651748/Emotional-Archbishop-speaks-of-shame-of-Irish-child-abuse-cover-ups.html

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin

A visibly upset Dr Diarmuid Martin said he was “angry, ashamed and appalled” at the behaviour of his fellow churchmen following a damning report into abuse in the diocese of Cloyne in Co Cork.

His comments follow an unprecedented attack on the Vatican by the Irish prime minister, Enda Kenny, accusing the Roman Catholic hierarchy of violating the country’s sovereignty by attempting to frustrate the inquiry.

The Taoiseach told the Irish parliament that the Cloyne report exposed the Vatican itself as being dominated by a culture of “dysfunction, disconnection, elitism and narcissism.”

“The rape and torture of children were downplayed or 'managed' to uphold instead, the primacy of the institution, its power, standing and 'reputation',” he said.

His remarks at a special debate in the Dail followed the publication last week of the fourth major report in six years cover-ups of clerical abuse.

The former Bishop of Cloyne John Magee – a Vatican aide to three Popes – was singled out for misleading investigators and "dangerous" failures on child protection.

On one occasion he was found to have written two different reports on an abuse allegation – one for Rome and one for diocesan records.

His resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict last year.

But Mr Kenny accused the Holy See of having a "calculated withering position" on clerical abuse.

“For the first time in Ireland, a report into child sexual abuse exposes an attempt by the Holy See to frustrate an inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic as little as three years ago, not three decades ago,” he said.

Close to tears, Archbishop Martin, later said told RTE he hoped the Taoiseach’s stinging criticism would teach his fellow churchmen a “lesson”.

"I find myself asking today, can I be proud of the Church that I'm a leader of?” he said.

“What I'm seeing – I have to be ashamed of this, and I have to be ashamed because of what was done to the victims and what was done to other people."

Described the leadership in Cloyne as a “cabal” which had deliberately ignored recent Vatican policy to combat child abuse, he said only invasive audits of all diocese was the only way to expose all abuse.

"Those who felt they were able to play tricks with norms, they have betrayed … good men and so many others in the Church who are working today, I am angry, ashamed and appalled by that,” he said.

He called on the Vatican to announce full support for the local church in Ireland on mandatory reporting of abuse allegations to the state authorities and ensure that internal reviews of the handling of complaints are published.