Abuse Survivors Meet Catholic Primate
UTV
[with video] Victims of clerical and institutional abuse are meeting with the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland in Armagh. It is the first time that Cardinal Sean Brady has met the group. Officials from the religious congregations which ran institutions at the centre of the claims of physical, sexual and psychological abuse and neglect are also in attendance. The group Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse (SAVIA) want guarantees from the Primate that the Church will co-operate fully with the Northern Ireland Executive's statutory inquiry. A statement from the group said: "This has been a long and tortuous route for some Survivors and Victims, re-awakening and reliving memories that were nightmares for some. "We believe that the Cardinal holds a key position that will allow that nightmare to end. It continued: "As the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland he must now, not just quote the Gospel, but is morally bound in his position have the courage to live up to it." In December 2010, the Stormont Executive announced it would hold an inquiry into historic institutional child abuse in Northern Ireland dating back to the 1940s. Margaret McGuckin, a member of the survivor's group, was abused at the Nazareth Sisters orphanage in Belfast from the age of three. She told UTV they had requested the meeting several times. "Finally we've got this meeting and the religious orders will be there. We are asking Cardinal Brady to exert his pressure on the religious orders to co-operate fully with the inquiry." "It's an opportunity for Cardinal Brady now," she added. "We're asking him to show that he is serious and that he has concern for the victims." She said it was "very important" to the group that they meet the Primate of All Ireland. "I'm delighted now that he has agreed to the meeting - and to see what he can do for us here."
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.