DEAR Pope Francis: ‘a Year after John Paul II Came, I Was Raped by a Priest’
By Colm O'Gorman
Dear Francis, I won’t lie. It has been a tough few months. I hadn’t imagined that your visit to Ireland would cause me any upset, but to my surprise it has. It started when the media here began to recall the iconic moments of John Paul II’s visit back in 1979. I was 13 years old then and, like most children of my generation, heavily involved in the church. I had been an altar server; I sang at Mass every Sunday. I went to a Christian Brothers School and the youth group I attended every week was a Catholic group that met in a convent. The church was a massive influence in my life back then, and central to every part of it. I didn’t get to see Pope John Paul II when he was here. My older sister and brother did, and I remember envying them as I watched the visit unfold on TV. The ecstatic crowds that lined the streets everywhere the Pope went, him beaming from his Popemobile and blessing the crowds as he wove his way though them, and above all that moment in Galway when he looked out across 300,000 young people and proclaimed in his accented, booming voice, “Young people of Ireland, I love you!”
My heart nearly burst when I heard him say that. It was a time when people didn’t often tell us that we were loved, not in that way, and I believed him. I believed every word he said. It’s different now, though. Now when I hear that same voice say those same words I don’t feel that joy. Instead I feel terribly sad. Sad for that 13-year-old me, heartbroken and sick for him. You see, just over a year after that, I was raped for the first time by a priest. A priest who used my blind faith in the goodness of your institution to get into my home, take me away and repeatedly assault me. That priest had been ordained just four months before the visit, and your church knew then that he was a child abuser. He had sexually assaulted a group of boy scouts while a seminarian. The scouting association had barred him for life as a result, but your church made him a priest and then sent him off and let him abuse for years with impunity. He made it along to the papal visit. He was in the Phoenix Park for the Mass, at the Papal Cross beneath which you will celebrate Mass when you arrive here soon. After he was ordained he was sent to a parish in Belfast, where he immediately began to cause havoc. He worked his way around the ban from the boy scouts by founding a troop of his own. I was told he had some of them with him at that Mass in 1979. I wonder if those boys were abused during that trip? The impact of what he did to me nearly killed me. I won’t go into the detail now, but it led to me fleeing my home when it finally ended almost three years later because I was so broken that I was finding it difficult to stay alive. If I hadn’t run, I don’t think I would have survived. I spent six months on the street, and was estranged from my family for nearly four years as a result of it all. That, perhaps, is worth thinking of in the context of your trip here for the World Meeting of Families: those of us who were abused by the church have families, and they suffered alongside us. Many are still suffering. Many will watch your visit and remember 1979, before all of this was revealed and before they came to know about and understand the trauma their children suffered. Some will watch it and be reminded of the loss of their children because some of us haven’t survived, some of us couldn’t cope. Some of us died because we saw no way out of the agony of living with what was done to us. Those families matter too. They may not be there waving flags as you drive by, but shouldn’t you reach out to them at long last and do them the respect of finally telling the truth? My own family were a big part of me finding the strength to come forward and report the abuse in 1995. What was done to me was tough for them to bear. My Dad in particular was shattered by it. He was a massive support to me, and his love and concern for me was just incredible back then. Dad died later that same year, but he has always been part of this journey for me. He taught me that the truth matters, that integrity and the courage to stand for what I believe in matters. So, 23 years later, I still stand for truth. I think it’s time that you did the same. Some people will tell you that you need to do this to save the church from further collapse. That may be true, but I hope you will finally do so not to save the institution, but because it is quite simply the right thing to do. Tell the truth. Admit the cover-up. Please. Colm Katie Ascough Freelance journalist, human rights activist and practising Catholic Dear Pope Francis, Thank you for coming to Ireland! As a young Catholic transitioning from college to career, I can hand-on-heart say that my faith is the best part of my life. It gives me an order and a purpose; it challenges me to be more kind, to love better, to forgive more frequently, and to look beyond myself and my own needs. It gives me reason and purpose and makes sense of the here and now. Faith isn’t something you can explain in a line; it’s something you have to discover for yourself by asking questions, searching for truth, and allowing yourself to be open.
I have great respect for you, and my hope is that, with your visit, as many people as possible will get to share in the experience of the Catholic faith that we know and love. It can’t be easy leading the church today. Please know that every time you receive a negative comment or unjustified criticism, I and many others stand with you. I truly love my faith and I can’t help but but light up when I talk about it and share it with others. I come out of daily Mass feeling refreshed, happier, and ready to start my day with a better mindset. Thank you for helping facilitate that through the family of the church. One thing I look forward to about the World Meeting of Families is celebrating our global Catholic community. There’s nothing like meeting other young Catholics from all corners of the world to inspire and invigorate our faith. I remember attending World Youth Day in Madrid in 2011 where we met large groups of young pilgrims, exchanged cultures, and in some cases have kept in contact since. I hope this World Meeting of Families will see the start of many friendships and will help Catholic families revitalise their faith both in Ireland and abroad. I hope you enjoy your time in Ireland and we look forward to welcoming you soon! Yours, Katie Fr Peter McVerry Jesuit priest and homelessness campaigner Dear Pope Francis, As you are no doubt aware, the Catholic Church in Ireland is in very poor health, perhaps even terminally ill. When Jesus was around, thousands of ordinary people followed him, listening to every word he said. Clearly what he was saying was relevant to them. Today the message of the church is supposed to be the continuation of the message of Jesus, but instead of thousands of people coming to the church to listen to what it says, thousands of people are walking away, describing the church’s message as irrelevant to their lives. Has the message changed?
Jesus talked about a God of compassion, a God who cared about the poverty, suffering and exclusion of many of those who came to listen to him, and he told them that God was on their side. Today, however, many, particularly young people, find the church a cold place, legalistic, judgmental and condemning. You too talk about a God of compassion, a God of mercy, and you reveal by your actions a God who is on the side of the poor, the homeless, migrants, prisoners. Your writings talk about a God who challenges the global structures which maintain the suffering of so many in our world, while enriching the few. That is why so many today, even unbelievers, listen to what you have to say. Unless the church in Ireland follows the path you walk, and talk, and puts social justice at the centre of its mission and ministry, then it will continue to see its followers walking away. Unless the church puts the poor, the homeless, Travellers, prisoners, victims of drug misuse and other marginalised groups at the centre of its preaching and practice, it will have no future. Compassion always has a political dimension. Jesus was not crucified because he told people to love one another. No, he was crucified because real love challenges vested interests. Unless the church takes sides, in this, the fifth-wealthiest country in the world, the fastest-growing economy in the EU, home to 50,000 millionaires, where more and more people and families are forced to live on the street, it will continue to be irrelevant. Unless the church in Ireland takes the side of those who struggle to pay the mortgage or rent, who live in fear of eviction or house repossession, while banks, vulture funds and some very greedy landlords maximise their profits, it will continue to be irrelevant. If the church takes sides, it will be persecuted, as Jesus was. The tragedy is that the message of Jesus, given to the church to proclaim, has so much to offer a divided and suffering world. The success of your visit will depend on the challenge which you present to the Irish church to move from maintenance mode to mission to the marginalised. Your brother in Christ, Fr Peter McVerry SJ
Mary Fleming Roman Catholic, regular church goer and member of church choir Dear Pope Francis, Thank you for coming to Ireland, a very different Ireland to that visited by your predecessor Pope John Paul II . Our Catholic faith is challenged on all sides. We need reassurance and hope and most of all we need to feel we are being listened to. You seem like a man who listens, has compassion and is open to new ideas. Please let us see that during your visit.
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