IRELAND
Irish Independent
SARAH MAC DONALD – 25 NOVEMBER 2013
ARCHBISHOP Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has rebuked those in the Catholic Church who were “all too slow” in recognising the extent of the “criminal abuse of children” by priests.
He was speaking at a Mass to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Child Safeguarding and Protection Office in the archdiocese of Dublin.
SURVIVORS
At a ceremony in the Pro-Cathedral attended by 400 child safeguarding representatives from parishes across Dublin, as well as priests and representatives of survivors of abuse, Dr Martin said the church needed to do more to reach out to survivors of clerical abuse.
The Archbishop urged the church to create “an open door and a safe space for those survivors who still fear telling their story and who still live alone with their anguish”.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, the Archbishop explained that from his meetings with survivors, he realised that some of them “are in a lonely place”.
“Very often they have nobody to talk to – they are not a member of an association. They were abused in a way that the pressure was put on them to keep it secret.”
He said they would like to have a space where they could come together, meet one another and support one another.
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