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Appendix 5 to Derry Report 2006
2 Greenhill Road, Coleraine, N. Ireland, BT51 3JE
31st March 2006
Very Rev Dr S. Hegarty
Bishop's House
St Eugene's Cathedral
Derry
BT48 9AP
Dear Dr Hegarty,
In the course of our evaluation of our meeting with you on March 10th a
number of questions arose to which we do not know the answers. The first
is this:
1. In the event of someone known to us requesting pastoral care relating
to incidents
of clerical child sex abuse, to whom in your recommendation should we
refer
them?
You will be aware, I'm sure, of the difficulty that many survivors have
in approaching parish clergy, or indeed any clergy, in this regard. This
is surely one of the reasons that survivors are often permanently lost
to the church altogether.
As events last year publicly raised questions that are still unanswered
in relation to the organisation 'NEST', it is not clear to us that the
diocese has any pastoral outreach to victims to which we could
confidently refer them - and to which we could also point as evidence
that the programme declared in 'Towards Healing' is ongoing in the
diocese.
Can you help us in this regard?
With a view to raising confidence that 'Towards Healing' is indeed
meeting with a substantive response in the diocese, further questions
arise out of your declaration to us that there exists a pastoral council
for the diocese. As no such structure is mentioned in the diocesan
directory, and as none of us has ever head of it, can you tell us:
2. When did the diocesan pastoral council last meet?
3. Who are its chairperson and members?
4. Has it at any stage since February 2005 addressed the programme
outlined in
'Towards Healing' with a view to implementation in the diocese?
5. Does it have in hand a pastoral development plan for the diocese?
6. If so, could we please have a copy?
Subsequent to our meeting with you we discovered the following
recommendation from Pope John Paul II to the Irish bishops on their last
Ad Limina visit in 1999:
"There is likewise a need for new forms of prayer and apostolate, new
structures and programmes that help to build a greater sense of
belonging to the ecclesial community, a new flourishing of associations
and movements capable of showing the perennial youth of the Church and
of being a genuine leaven in society. Your personal closeness is needed
in supporting and guiding already existing associations of the faithful,
many of which have extraordinary merits in the life of the Church in
Ireland, as well as the new groups and movements which the Holy Spirit
is constantly generating in the Church in response to changing needs."
(Item 3)
We wish to place on record our conviction that the continuing absence of
'structures of belonging' in this diocese seven years after the pope's
recommendation (notwithstanding, for example, the 'Ministry and Change'
process and recommendations), is a profound tragedy. It necessarily
evokes a reflection on the many references in St Matthew's Gospel to the
questions and penalties we may all suffer for unfruitfulness.
Yours sincerely,
Sean O'Conaill
(On behalf of the executive
committee of VotF Ulster)
(Back to Derry
Report 2006)
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VOTF™
Mission Statement
To provide a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit,
through which the Faithful can actively participate in the governance
and guidance of the Catholic Church.
Our Goals
1. To support
survivors of clergy sexual abuse.
2. To support priests of integrity
3.To shape structural change within the Catholic Church.
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