The Times
March 20, 2010
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article7069597.ece
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| Pope Benedict XVI did not admit a cover-up by the Vatican Photo by Gregorio Borgia |
The Pope has said he is "truly sorry" to the Irish Catholics who suffered years of "sinful and criminal" sexual abuse at the hands of clergy.
In the Catholic Church's first public apology of its kind, Benedict XVI rebuked Irish bishops for “grave errors of judgement" in handling clerical sex abuse.
He also ordered a Vatican investigation into the Irish church, but did not mention any Vatican responsibility for covering up the scandal.
Nor did he dole out any specific punishments for bishops accused of covering up years of abuse.
The Pope made the apology in a seven-page pastoral letter to Irish Catholics which will be read tomorrow at masses across the country.
“I can only share in the dismay and the sense of betrayal that so many of you have experienced on learning of these sinful and criminal acts and the way Church authorities in Ireland dealt with them," he said.
“You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry.
“It is understandable that you find it hard to forgive or be reconciled with the church. In her name, I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel.”
Three Irish government-ordered investigations published from 2005 to 2009 have documented how thousands of Irish children were raped and abused by priests, in parishes, boarding schools and orphanages. Irish bishops did not report a single case to police until 1996 after victims began to sue the church.
In May last year the Ryan Report revealed that the Catholic Church and Irish Government covered up almost four decades of sexual abuse and beatings by priests and nuns on thousands of children in state care.
Then in November the state-ordered Murphy Report disclosed details of child abuse and subsequent cover-ups over three decades by the Catholic hierarchy in Dublin. It provided allegations against a sample 46 priests who served in Dublin between 1975 to 2004 and found several bishops, some still serving, mishandled complaints against priests.
The Pope's letter is divided into sections directed at the victims, their parents, their abusers, the bishops and the Irish church as a whole.
Addressing the bishops, he wrote: "I recognise how difficult it was to grasp the extent and complexity of the problem, to obtain reliable information and to make the right decisions in the light of conflicting expert advice.
"Nevertheless, it must be admitted that grave errors of judgment were made and failures of leadership occurred. And this has seriously undermined your credibility and effectiveness.”
He said the Irish church must now address the problem which had stemmed from “a misplaced concern for the reputation of the Church and the avoidance of scandal, resulting in failure to apply existing canonical penalties and to safeguard the dignity of every person”.
"In order to recover from this grievous wound, the Church in Ireland must first acknowledge before the Lord and before others the serious sins committed against defenceless children,” he continued.
“Such an acknowledgement, accompanied by sincere sorrow for the damage caused to these victims and their families, must lead to a concerted effort to ensure the protection of children from similar crimes in the future.”
Turning to those who had committed the abuse, the Pope added: “Conceal nothing. Openly acknowledge your guilt, submit yourselves to the demands of justice, but do not despair of God’s mercy.”
Earlier this week the Primate of All Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, apologised for his role in covering up the activities of a notorious paedophile priest.
Another bishop was found to have bought a victim’s silence by signing off on an out-of-court settlement with a confidentiality clause. Cardinal Brady said that he would spend the rest of Lent considering his own future after demands for his resignation.
At morning mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh he said: “In the name of the Church, Pope Benedict openly expresses the shame and remorse that we all feel about the abuse that has occurred.
“Throughout the letter Pope Benedict talks about the need for healing, repentance and renewal.
“He expresses the depth of the pain that has been caused and acknowledges that some people find it difficult even to go inside the doors of a church after all that has occurred.”
“No one imagines that the present painful situation will be resolved quickly,” he added. “Yet with perseverance, prayer and working together in unity, the Holy Father says we can be confident that the Church in Ireland will experience a season of rebirth and spiritual renewal.”
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, the second most senior Catholic in Ireland, said he welcomed the apology and the "recognition of the suffering and betrayal", adding: “The Pope recognises the failures of Church authorities in how they dealt with sinful and criminal acts.”
The Northern Ireland Executive has said it is considering options for dealing with historic institutional and clerical child abuse, including a full state inquiry.
Further allegations of child abuse by Catholic clergy have come to light in the Pope’s native Germany, as well as in Austria and the Netherlands.
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