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	Victims Disappointed with Response By Barry Roche and Genevieve Carbery Irish Times September 5, 2011 http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0905/1224303498641.html REACTION: VICTIMS OF clerical sexual abuse in the diocese of Cloyne expressed disappointment at the Vatican's statement and accused Rome of failing to accept responsibility for the abuse perpetrated by some of its priests. One woman, who had testified to the Murphy commission about how she was abused, said the statement reminded her of comments by Msgr Denis O'Callaghan, Bishop John Magee's designated child protection officer, after the Cloyne report was published. "Again it seems to me they are shirking responsibility, saying it's not their fault. It reminds me of O'Callaghan after the report came out. They are so out of touch with the reality of what it is to be abused, they just don't get it. "They are never going to realise and appreciate what this is all about until they meet people like myself and the other girls who were abused and hear what it's been like for us and the impact that this has had on our lives for the past 30 years or more." Another woman, who also testified before Judge Murphy, also questioned the sincerity of the Vatican's apology and said that it had an all-too-familiar ring to it, with the Vatican doing nothing to help bring abusive priests to justice. "It makes no mention of the fact that Magee wrote up two versions of his meeting with Fr Brendan Wrixon where he admitted abuse: one which Magee sent to Rome confirming the abuse and one which he gave to the gardaí, making no mention of Wrixon's admission." Maeve Lewis of support group One in Four said the response document would "anger and frustrate" victims of abuse. The Vatican took " no responsibility" for its role in "creating a culture where secrecy and cover-ups were routinely used to maintain the reputation of the church while placing children at continued risk of sexual abuse," Ms Lewis said. The Vatican was "completely out of touch" with public outrage regarding church management of child abuse, she said. In a reference to a phrase used by Taoiseach Enda Kenny in the Dáil, clerical abuse victim Andrew Madden said the "gimlet eye of the canon lawyer had been busy" preparing the document. The document revealed the Vatican's efforts to continue to "absolve itself of any responsibility" for the cover-up of the abuse, he said. The Holy See's response said members of Irish Catholic hierarchy shared the Vatican's view that the 1996 child protection guidelines were non-binding, he said. "The only people who seemed to think that Catholic bishops were implementing child protection guidelines were the Irish Government and the Irish people," he said. The bishops were "disingenuous" in giving a false impression about the 1996 guidelines, he said. Clerical abuse victim Marie Collins said the response raised a question for her over the church's current child protection guidelines, which were not approved by the Vatican. It was very important that the State bring in mandatory reporting so there was no more defence, she added. Clerical abuse victim and executive director of Amnesty International Ireland Colm O'Gorman said he was struck by the Vatican's "totally disingenuous" portrayal of its role in the abuse scandals. "Nowhere in the 26 pages could I read or even discern a basic acceptance of the principle that with an assertion of supreme authority must come an acceptance of very significant levels of responsibility," Mr O'Gorman said on his blog.
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