IRELAND
Irish Times
Patsy McGarry
Revulsion towards church and state institutions have followed recent revelations about mother and baby homes, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin has said.
Dr Michael Jackson said this year’s St Patrick’s Day had been “inevitably and rightly” different in Ireland. “As a society we stand in need of restoration. As members of churches we stand in need of redemption,” he said. “None of us can do this without respect for the voice of the victim; none of us can do this without the forgiveness of the victim,” he said.
“For all the churches, these events have hardened and sharpened the deep antagonism now felt towards churches around betrayal,” he said.
This was “because of our incapacity to get our head around something which to others is not as complicated as it sounds or looks: accepting that those who went before us have done wrong; saying that we are sorry for the wrong that was done; offering a heartfelt apology; asking for forgiveness from neighbour as well as from God. Institutions find this tremendously difficult,” he said.
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