Survivors Furious at Bishops" Call to Pray for Abusers

By Colm Kelpie
Irish Independent
March 8, 2012

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/survivors-furious-at-bishops-call-to-pray-for-abusers-3043826.html

A LEADING abuse survivor last night branded as "insulting" a request from the Catholic bishops for parishioners to pray to make amends for the sins of paedophile priests.

Marie Collins said the onus should be on the bishops to make amends and she accused them of failing to show humility over the abuse scandals.

On the final day of their three-day spring general meeting, the bishops reiterated a call from Pope Benedict and encouraged the faithful to pray intensely to "make reparation for the sins of abuse that have done so much harm".

But Ms Collins said the people did not need to atone.

"It's the bishops that survivors would want to see making reparation or atonement, humbling themselves in some way," she said.

Insulting

"It's insulting to think they're expecting people to come out. The ordinary people are waiting to see them do something."

Pope Benedict originally made the call in his pastoral letter to Irish Catholics, issued in March 2010.

Fellow survivor Andrew Madden said: "Given most of the people who were involved in covering up sexual abuse of children didn't see that as an issue serious enough to cause them to resign, I don't think they have any credibility speaking about victims or speaking about child protection."

Maeve Lewis from the support group One in Four accused the bishops of not properly ensuring that victims of clerical abuse were compensated.