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	Diocese Criticises Priest's Insensitive Abuse Comments Total Catholic September 22, 2011 http://www.totalcatholic.com/tc/index.php/uk-and-ireland-news/1859-diocese-criticises-priests-insensitive-abuse-comments A diocese has expressed regret over comments made in the media by one of its priests who criticised the "wives and mothers of Ireland" who "failed miserably" to deal with the abuse of their children. Fr Patrick Banville of New Ross, in the Diocese of Ferns, claimed in his article: "In time, I believe Ireland will discover that there is nothing particularly unique in the Catholic bishops' bungling attempts to deal with clerical abuse." Elsewhere in the article, the Co Wexford priest claims that the wives and mothers of Ireland "probably surpass" the failure of the bishops. "In fact, I believe that covering up is a typical response to child abuse right across the board, at least until very recently." He wrote that he believed a "significant percentage of the population" were implicated in the cover-up but that "nobody in this once sovereign democratic republic wants to hear this" because it is "politically incorrect". In a reference to Taoiseach Enda Kenny's speech in the Dáil in response to the findings of the Cloyne Report in which Mr Kenny was highly critical of the Vatican, Fr Banville wrote: "Let me conclude by adapting the words of the Taoiseach; there is no shortage of dysfunction, disconnection, elitism and narcissism in the Republic of Ireland 2011, where the rape and torture of children are downplayed or managed, to uphold instead the primacy of the family, the family name, its power, standing and reputation, and where multitudes living in our midst, have turned a blind eye: not my business!" He added: "We don't know it yet, or perhaps we don't want to know it, but in terms of child abuse the Catholic Church is holding up a mirror to Irish society." Responding to the article, which was published in the Irish Catholic newspaper, the diocese said in a statement issued by diocesan secretary Fr John Carroll that "the mentioning of any one group is not helpful in this debate. The use of the phrase 'wives and mothers' is particularly regrettable." The statement underlined that Fr Banville had expressed views which were his own personal views. The diocese reaffirmed its position on abuse, stating that "all sexual abuse, whether it takes place in the Church, in the family or in society at large, is criminal." However, it added that "for the sake of the victims who continue to suffer, this is a conversation, however painful, we as a society need to have". Meanwhile, Fr Tony Flannery of the Association of Catholic Priests responded to the article and an interview Fr Banville did on RTE Radio, saying the Co Wexford priest was "attempting to raise an important issue about the difficulty of dealing with this form of abuse". Writing on the ACP website, the Redemptorist added: "Any fair-minded reader could recognise the importance of what he was saying."
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