IRELAND
Cork News
Cork victims of Church abuse react to Brady apology
Priests involved in the cover up of clerical child abuse need to be held accountable before apologies are made, according to the director of Cork’s Sexual Violence Centre. As the Catholic Primate of All Ireland Cardinal Seán Brady apologised for the clergy’s failure to respond to victims of child sexual abuse at the International Eucharistic Congress yesterday, Thursday, Mary Crilly said she believed that Church authorities are “still minding themselves”.
“While I welcome the apology, change needs to come from within. They can say sorry for what happened and say that it will never happen again but it’s not enough… action is needed,” she told the Cork News. “There are still people out there that aren’t being listened to and still don’t see changes. There needs to be real transparency and action taking.”
Ms Crilly stated that this included the resignation of Cardinal Brady, who last month distanced himself from an inquiry into one of the country’s most dangerous paedophiles. It was claimed that Dr Brady failed to warn the parents of victims, or the gardaí or police after hearing allegations of abuse against Fr Brendan Smyth. However, the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland has continually insisted that responsibility for the scandal does not lie with him.
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