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	Retired Garda Critical of Outcome of Papal Meeting By Carolyn Farrar Donegal Democrat February 18, 2010 http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/donegalnews/Retired-Garda-critical-of-outcome.6081835.jp IRELAND -- Retired Garda Martin Ridge, who investigated Donegal's most infamous cases of child sexual abuse, said that he would nearly agree with those survivors who described this week's meeting in Rome between Pope Benedict and the Irish Bishops Conference as "window dressing." The public response to this week's conference has largely been one of dismay. Several prominent survivors of clerical child sexual abuse have been very critical of the gathering, and of the Vatican statement that resulted from it. Dublin abuse victim Andrew Madden wrote in the Irish Independent that the meeting was "a complete waste of time" and "the grandest two days of window dressing I have ever seen." The group One in Four called the response "extremely inadequate." Christine Buckley of the Aislinn support centre told The Irish Times that she was "dismayed and terribly sad" at the results of the meeting, calling it "an absolute and utter charade from beginning to end." In a press release, the Vatican said, in part, that the bishops and the pope "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 and religious. All those present recognised that this grave crisis has led to a breakdown in trust in the church's leadership." The Vatican has also promised a pastoral letter to the Catholic of Ireland, expected before Easter. Critics of the meeting have noted that there was no explanation for the failure of the Vatican to co-operate with the Murphy commission, and highlighted the lack of Vatican accountability for its role in the matter. Mr. Ridge said there was another glaring omission. "I didn't hear anybody saying to survivors, 'We have failed you, and we're sorry for failing you,'" he said. He questioned why children who were subject to abuse could not take their complaints at the time to gardaí or health officials "or anybody. "This is a failure on a magnitude that is unbelievable," Mr. Ridge said. But he returned to the responsibility of the church, saying that he believed the Vatican was aware of the allegations of child sexual abuse in the Irish Catholic church. "Of course Rome had to know about it," he said, adding that the Vatican would have been aware of hospitals that treated paedophile priests, and insurance policies taken out against claims of child sexual abuse. At the same time, Mr. Ridge said it was good to see priests speaking out on the matter. "Their voices seem far more authentic," he said.
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