ROME (ITALY)
Crux
October 26, 2018
Speaking ahead of the close of a summit of Catholic bishops held against the backdrop of a new wave of the Church’s clerical abuse crisis, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Ireland, said some areas of the world and the ecclesial sphere still haven’t grasped the severity of the issue.
“Sometimes I feel that there are still areas of life in the Church where this has not yet come to the fore, come to the light,” Martin said Oct. 26.
“I think that there are perhaps still some areas in which this area is denied and not given its proper place,” he said, voicing hope that a highly-anticipated February summit of presidents of bishops’ conferences from around the world convoked by Pope Francis on the theme of child protection would help address the issue on a local level.
Martin voiced hope that the February gathering “will help to ensure that more countries will take this issue seriously, and I pray that they do.”
Attending an Oct. 26 press briefing during the final week of the Oct. 3-28 Synod of Bishops on young people, faith and vocational discernment, Martin responded to a question on rumors there was a dispute over how much emphasis to give the abuse crisis in the gathering’s final document, with prelates from Asia and Africa wanting to downplay the issue, arguing that it is only a major issue in Western nations.
Martin admitted that the abuse issue started out as a major topic, drawing ovations for prelates who touched on the issue during their brief speeches. As the month-long meeting went on, discussion turned to other topics, though the abuse crisis was always an underlying theme, he said.
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