By Richard Owen
The Times
February 17, 2010
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7029093.ece
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| The Pope said that "significant measures" had been taken to ensure the safety of children in future |
Pope Benedict XVI yesterday condemned the sexual abuse of children and young people by clergy as "not only a heinous crime but also a grave sin which offends God and wounds the dignity of the human person" as he ended a two day crisis summit with Irish bishops.
The Pope said although "significant measures" had been taken to ensure the safety of children in future, the "grave crisis" over clerical sex abuse had led to "a breakdown in trust in the Church’s leadership" and damaged "the Church’s spiritual and moral credibility". The resulting "painful situation" would not be resolved quickly but had to be faced "with honesty and courage".
The Pope is to issue a "pastoral letter" apologising to the victims of sexual abuse by clergy in Ireland and demanding "repentance" by the perpetrators following the summit, convened in the wake of the Murphy and Ryan reports. Vatican officials said the Pope would amend his draft of the letter in the light of the meeting, and would issue it during Lent.
The bishops' meeing with the Pontiff, which began on Monday morning, ended at lunchtime yesterday. In a statement the Vatican said the Pope and the bishops had "discussed the serious situation which has emerged in the Church in Ireland. Together they examined the failure of Irish Church authorities for many years to act effectively in dealing with cases involving the sexual abuse of young people by some Irish clergy."
It said all those present had "recognised that this grave crisis has led to a breakdown in trust in the Church’s leadership and has damaged her witness to the Gospel and its moral teaching". The meeting had taken place "in a spirit of prayer and collegial fraternity" but also in a "frank and open atmosphere", a code suggesting straight talking by both sides.
The Vatican said the bishops "spoke frankly of the sense of pain and anger, betrayal, scandal and shame expressed to them on numerous occasions by those who had been abused" and had "described the support at present being provided by thousands of trained and dedicated lay volunteers at parish level to ensure the safety of children in all Church activities".
While there was "no doubt that errors of judgement and omissions stand at the heart of the crisis", "significant measures" had been taken "to ensure the safety of children and young people" in co-operation with "the statutory authorities in Ireland – North and South – and with the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland".
The Pope had described the sexual abuse of children and young people as not only a heinous crime but also "a grave sin which offends God and wounds the dignity of the human person created in his image" the statement said. Noting that the "current painful situation " could not be resolved quickly, he had "challenged the Bishops to address the problems of the past with determination and resolve, and to face the present crisis with honesty and courage".
He hoped the meeting would "unify the Bishops and enable them to speak with one voice in identifying concrete steps aimed at bringing healing to those who had been abused, encouraging a renewal of faith in Christ and restoring the Church’s spiritual and moral credibility".
The Pope had also "pointed to the more general crisis of faith affecting the Church", the Vatican said, linkng it to "lack of respect for the human person". This "weakening of faith" had been "a significant contributing factor in the phenomenon of the sexual abuse of minors."
He had stressed the need for "improved human, spiritual, academic and pastoral preparation both of candidates for the priesthood and religious life and of those already ordained and professed." Lent was to be used in Ireland as "a time for imploring an outpouring of God’s mercy and the Holy Spirit’s gifts of holiness and strength upon the Church".
In a message released today ahead of the World Day of Prayer for Priestly Vocations in April, the Pope said a priest must "imitate Christ, chaste, poor and obedient". A priest also had to "help to overcome divisions, heal rifts, settle conflicts and misunderstandings, and forgive offences" the Pope said.
His forthcoming pastoral letter is unlikely however to satisfy many of the sex abuse victims, who are demanding financial compensation and further resignations, including that of Monsignor Martin Drennan, the Bishop of Galway, who maintains he did "nothing to endanger children".
The Murphy report said the Dublin archdiocese had covered up abuse for three decades, showing an "obsessive concern with secrecy and the avoidance of scandal" and more concern to protect Church institutions than the abused children. Four Irish bishops resigned.
An earlier inquiry, the Ryan report, had also pointed to systematic abuse of children in Catholic-run schools and orphanages in Ireland over half a century.
Before the Vatican summit Cardinal Sean Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, who headed the Irish delegation, told Vatican Radio it was part of a "journey of repentance, reconciliation and renewal" for the Irish church.
At a Mass for the bishops on Monday morning Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, who is said to have been a prime mover in convening the meeting, described sexual abuse of children as "abominable" and "humiliating" for the Church.
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