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  Voices from Hell

The Sligo Champion [Ireland]
November 3, 2005

Listening to a tormented priest on RTE radio confessing his innermost feelings of disgust and shame at the revelations contained in the Murphy Report into the rape and sexual abuse of children in the Diocese of Ferns gave some idea of how let down and isolated many of his colleagues feel at present.

He told of his mortification and fury - not to mention initial incredulity - at the sheer scale of what has been uncovered and admitted to the nation that he felt like simply staying on in bed when his alarm clock rang at 7 a.m., rather than having to face his parishioners on the morning after the report was published. He simply hadn't the heart to carry on, but eventually, he rose and, with head down, reluctantly went out into the world.

Among the many victims who have been scarred and brutalised by this appalling scandal - and there are many - it is easy to forget that ordinary priests going about their daily work, have been victims too.

What has been exposed is vile - a festering wound at the heart of Ferns Diocese which was allowed to spread over a period of forty years while those in authority turned a blind eye or simply chose to disbelieve incontrovertible evidence presented to them over that period.

No wonder the priest who went on radio was so traumatised. He poured out what was in his broken heart in a remarkable national confession, expressing profound grief at what had been done in his beloved church. No wonder his anguish was so moving, for the vista that had been placed before him was utterly beyond his imagination.

In summary, the report found that twenty-one priests sexually assaulted children in County Wexford. One girl aged fourteen had a secret child by a priest who raped her. Another priest molested ten young girls on the altar. Priests in a position of trust failed miserably to take action while colleagues who can only be described as the worst kind of perverts were shifted from one posting to another in a pathetic effort to hide their tracks. Church leaders told lies and covered up for these criminals. Two bishops now stand accused over how they handled the growing allegations. One of them has appealed for forgiveness but it is doubtful if he will experience much mercy from the many victims of his gross negligence.

What went on in Ferns is an abomination. That such depravity was inflicted on innocent children by priests and religious in a position of absolute trust is bad enough, but the treatment of the victims afterwards is just as bad. Terrified youngsters who had been raped and abused were accused of being liars, instead of receiving support from those in authority, inside and outside the church. They were ignored by the very institutions from where succour, understanding and comfort ought to have been readily forthcoming. These unfortunate victims and their families were treated like lepers until their continuing torment grew to such proportions that it could no longer be ignored.

This diabolical scandal caused deep division and bitterness among ordinary people. Many simply couldn't bring themselves to accept that such evil could thrive in places where their every impulse said godliness, gentleness and wisdom were the norm. The shocking reality was that depravity prevailed while men who were thought to be good and decent and motivated by Christian ideals stood by and actually shamefully facilitated it.

No wonder the distraught priest on radio cut such a wretched, lonely figure as he expressed his sense of betrayal and outrage. No wonder he took many deep breaths and secretly wished he could be elsewhere as he knocked on the door of a classroom of children he was scheduled to visit on his daily rounds. No wonder he confessed to a close friend his darkest despair as the shocking truth was discovered. No wonder Ferns has now been dubbed the most evil diocese in the world.

Much has been written and said by politicians and others in the last week, but not even the most powerful and respected voices in the land can compare to the anguished voices of the young victims whose accounts in the report resemble nothing so much as testimony from hell itself.

 
 

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