IRELAND
Irish Times
Mark Hilliard
Retired Bishop Willie Walsh has said he used to sit and cry in the aftermath of meetings with survivors of church sex abuse.
Admitting he did not in the beginning fully grasp the extent of the damage caused by abuse, the former Bishop of Killaloe said he found it very distressing to hear the experiences of those who suffered.
But, he acknowledged, he could rely on the ability to discuss the issues and their impact with others whereas this had not always been possible for survivors.
In a wide ranging interview on the Marian Finucane Show on RTÉ radio, publicising his book “No Crusader”, Bishop Walsh said he had spent more time crying as a bishop than during his life beforehand.
“I found the dealing with the whole issue of child sexual abuse and meeting victims, I found it really distressing and at times I just sat when they had gone, I just sat down and cried,” he said.
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