Vatican Report Is 'Window Dressing', Say Abuse Victims

By Claire O'Sullivan
Irish Examiner
March 21, 2012

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/vatican-report-is-window-dressing-say-abuse-victims-187831.html


[with video]

Clerical abuse victims have criticised the summary of the Vatican report into child protection practices as "window dressing", but priests and the hierarchy have praised the document.

Last night, it emerged that child protection legislation was being prepared. Frances Fitzgerald, the children's minister, said child protection guidelines would soon be on a statutory footing.

She was responding to the report drawn up by four bishops who travelled to Ireland at the request of Pope Benedict two years ago.

They met with religious leaders, abuse victims, and the wider Catholic community as part of an effort to analyse the state of child protection guidelines and challenges for the wider Irish Church.

The report made several wide-ranging recommendations, including changes to a priest's training so that a more "authentic priestly identity" would be assured.

Another recommendation, which has been criticised by victims and priests, is that "seminary buildings be exclusively for seminarians". Any such suggestion that this was a return to cloistering priests or clericalism was roundly rejected by the Association of Catholic Priests as "going in the wrong direction".

The report acknowledged the hurt that had been caused to the Catholic Church in Ireland by clerical abuse. "With a great sense of pain and shame, it must be acknowledged that within the Christian community, innocent young people were abused by clerics and religious to whose care they had been entrusted, while those who should have exercised vigilance often failed to do so effectively," they stated.

Victims group One in Four criticised the team for failing to admit the Vatican's role in the "cover-up" whereby they protected abusive priests.

Executive director Maeve Lewis said: "We welcome the recommendation that the bishops and religious superiors should devote much time to listening to survivors and attending to their needs.

"But, in the past year… we have had grotesque situations where senior churchmen meet with survivors, assure them of their remorse for what happened while at the same time are instructing their legal teams to file full defences in relation to civil compensations suits."

Cardinal Sean Brady said the report was "a contribution to the ongoing spiritual and moral renewal of the Church in Ireland".

However, abuse victim Andrew Madden said: "I said in Oct 2010 that the apostolic visitation is nothing more than self-serving, window-dressing nonsense, and nothing I've read today has changed my mind."