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  Responses to Pope's Letter Reflect How Irish Attitudes Have Changed

Southern Star
March 27, 2010

http://www.southernstar.ie/article.php?id=1886

IRELAND -- JUST how hugely Irish society in general has changed from what it used to be is illustrated by the public reaction to the historic Pastoral Letter of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, to the Catholics of Ireland last weekend. For a millennium and a half, since St Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland, the Pope was considered infallible and all edicts from Rome were dutifully accepted by the Church faithful, that is until the institution's reputation was severely tarnished by revelations of unspeakable abuse of innocent children perpretrated by a small minority of its clerics.

This was compounded by shameful cover-ups of these evil deeds by those in authority in the Roman Catholic Church and the trail of responsibility for the culture of secrecy that surrounded such deliberate actions leads right back to the Vatican. These are the bare facts of the matter and were what the Pope needed to address comprehensively in his Pastoral Letter.

Unfortunately, for him and the institution he leads, Pope Benedict's heartfelt personal apology, while widely welcomed, has not proven enough for many of the thousands of victims of physical and sexual abuse in Ireland – and it must be accepted, without question, that these are the people who count the most. As we approach Holy Week, an appropriate analogy would be the crucifiction of Jesus Christ, with the survivors of depraved sexual abuse by clerics still carrying the cross that is their lot – the only difference being that they are mere mortals, unable to get away from the pain and suffering that has blighted their lives, often being made worse by the actions of what seems like an uncaring institution at odds with the Christian ethos that should always be at the forefront of everything that is done and said in its name.

In his Pastoral Letter, the Pope says he has been deeply disturbed by the information which has come to light regarding the abuse of children and vulnerable young people by members of the Church in Ireland, particularly by priests and religious. He makes it sound as if he has only heard about this quite recently, but this been widely known for several years and one must remember also that his Papal Nuncio in Ireland was not very co-operative when asked to help Judge Yvonne Murphy compile her Report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, while the Ferns report and that of Judge Sean Ryan into the systemic abuse of children in institutions run by religious orders have been in the public domain for longer.

One could argue that the Pope's response is better late than never, but the length of time it has taken the Vatican to react since the publication of the various reports has caused even more damage to the Church, not helped by the constant "drip drip" of revelations referred to by Cardinal Sean Brady – one particularly damaging one affecting himself, which we will address further anon. The delay has further cemented the impression many people have, albeit perhaps mistaken, that the institution is more interested in protecting itself than in providing meaningful closure for survivors of abuse.

It is nice to finally hear that the Pope shares "in the the dismay and sense of betrayal that so many of you have experienced on learning of these sinful and criminal acts and the way the Church authorities have dealt with them" and he castigates priests and religious who have abused children. Also delivering a rebuke to the Irish Hierarchy for their "grave errors of judgement" in the manner in which they responded to allegations of child abuse in the past, which undermined their credibility and effectiveness, it is re-assuring to note that he makes it clear that they must co-operate with the civil authorities at all times in the future regarding allegations of sexual abuse.

However, what has disappointed victims' groups, most notably One in Four, was Pope Benedict's failure to address what they see as the core issue in the clerical sexual abuse scandal: the deliberate policy of the Catholic Church at the highest levels to protect sex offenders, thereby endangering children. "The Pope speaks only of the failures in the Irish church, and neglects the role of the Vatican. If the church cannot acknowledge this fundamental truth, it is still in denial," stated the group's executive director, Ms Maeve Lewis, who wanted a more forceful rebuke of and apology for the "scurrilous" manner is which victims were treated when they tried to bring their experiences of abuse to the attention of the Church authorities.

While the general tone and content of the Pastoral Letter attempts to show heartfelt empathy with the victims of abuse and ordinary members of the Church who have seen everything they ever held dear about the institution effectively implode in recent times, there is a modicum of naïvety in the Pope's interpretation of how the current situation came about, which points to the Vatican not being truly in touch with the people. He seems to imply that the roots of clerical sexual abuse lie in the "secularisation" of Irish society, whereas the reality of it is that the worst excesses of such abuse occurred well before that happened, during the austere middle years of the 20th century, when priests could do no wrong in the eyes of the people and the civil authorities, so some evil members of the clergy and religious orders took full advantage of this perception and cruelly abused defenceless children, safe in the knowledge that they would probably get away with doing so.

The Pope has proposed a number of what he called "concrete initiatives" to address the current need for reconciliation and the re-birth of the Church here in Ireland mainly involving prayer, fasting, reading of the scriptures and works of mercy. He has also promised to meet victims, whose spokespersons insist that any such meeting must involve two-way interaction and discussion, while he also intends to hold an Apostolic Visitation to certain dioceses in Ireland.

Welcoming it, Cardinal Sean Brady said: "The Pastoral Letter is but one of many steps on the road to healing, repentance and renewal." And, indeed, there is a long road ahead in this regard, as the Vatican needs to reflect more deeply on the culture of secrecy it insisted on in relation to dealing with complaints of abuse and with the abusers, while the Church here in Ireland must figure out how to arrest the decline in attendances at its religious services and win back lost members of its flock in order to credibly restore its true Christian credentials.

 
 

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