IRELAND
Herald
Sarah MacDonald – 25 February 2017
The Pope’s representative in Ireland has revealed how he witnessed an anguished Cardinal Desmond Connell in tears at the Vatican over the clerical abuse of children at the turn of the millennium.
Speaking to the Herald after the funeral Mass of the former archbishop of Dublin at St Mary’s Pro Cathedral, the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Brown, recalled seeing Dr Connell in Rome “filled with anguish about the horrors of the sexual abuse of children”.
Cardinal Connell worked at the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (1993-2001), where Archbishop Brown served until 2011, when he was appointed to Ireland.
“When I say visible anguish, it was visible in his tears which I witnessed,” he said.
He said the evil of that was “completely inconceivable and unfathomable” to him.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.