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Voice of the Faithful responds to the Cloyne report 14th July,
2011
How can Catholics ever trust these lying bishops again?
The bishop of Cloyne lied to survivors, lied to the National Board for
Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church, lied to the public
authorities investigating child safety in his diocese and lied to his
people. Why would a bishop do that?
The bishop of Cloyne relied on his vicar general to handle virtually all
aspects of sexual abuse of children by priests in his diocese. The vicar
general considered the national guidelines promulgated by the Church and
State in Ireland to be misguided and he substituted his own poorly
documented and ad hoc procedures in their place. Why did he do that?
As a result of the actions of these men and others who colluded with
them, perpetrators have gone unprosecuted, victims have gone
unsupported, and the people have been left bewildered and angry.
Voice of the Faithful Ireland is outraged at the actions of the bishop
of Cloyne and his collaborators between 1996 and 2009. We welcome the
response of the Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, and the Minister for
Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald and their commitments to
strengthen the legislative provisions and actions of the public
authorities to protect children. As Catholics however, we are distraught
that it requires action by the secular authorities to protect our
children from our priests. We believe that the behaviours revealed in
the Cloyne Report are symptomatic of wider problems in the Church that
cannot be addressed by the civil authorities but must be tackled by
Catholics themselves.
The bishop and his vicar general acted as they did to protect what they
perceived to be in the interests of the Church. The bishop saw in his
vicar general someone who convinced him that these unpleasant matters
could be handled within the diocese and thus the bishop gave assurances
to outside inquirers that child protection was under control. He was
wrong. Cloyne even volunteered the diocese to take part in a pilot study
in 2004 to demonstrate its compliance in child safety. So confident were
it leaders of that fact that they allegedly did not even read the McCoy
study which showed that they were not in fact in compliance. The vicar
general believed that the national guidelines were unduly procedural and
substituted his own more “pastoral” approach. He was wrong.
These men acted as they did because they belong to a clerical power
structure that does not value transparency and accountability.. They
thought that they knew better than everyone else what was in the
interests of the Church in Cloyne and there was no one who was in a
position to contradict them. The bishop in current Catholic teaching and
practice is literally a law unto himself. He makes the local law and
administers it, subject only to the general strictures of the universal
Code of Canon Law. The administration of this law is done in secret.
This has to change.
We need new sharing of power and responsibility in the Church. Let us
start with the selection of a new bishop, which the Apostolic
Administrator of Cloyne, Dermot Clifford, Archbishop of Cashel, told a
press conference today can be expected now that the report has been
published. Let the people of Cloyne refuse to accept as legitimate any
bishop whose appointment has not be based on a full and open
consultation with the people and their priests and who is committed to
opening up the way the diocese is governed and working to change the way
the Church universally is governed. Voice of the Faithful has developed
a document showing how this can be done within current Church law
(votf.org). We urge the people and priests of Cloyne to write to
Archbishop Clifford demanding that this be done before any new bishop be
appointed and to withhold their allegiance from any man appointed
without such consultation. We will support them in such a constructive
witness.
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VOTFI statement on NBSCCCI report
of May 11th 2011
The report of Wed 11th
May from the NBSCCCI is the last thing we expected, and a bitter
disappointment to hopes of restoring trust in the leadership of the
Irish Catholic Church.
Effectively we have been told that the work of the NBSCCCI in reviewing
compliance with child protection guidelines has been frustrated by
bishops and heads of religious orders, due to legal advice that led to
perceptions of possible breaches of data protection legislation. The
reality is that the National Board is confident that it fully complies
with data protection legislation in both jurisdictions of this island.
In addition, the 'culture of secrecy' decried by the bishops themselves
in Dec 2009 may continue to apply to NBSCCCI reviews of child
safeguarding practice, in that the NBSCCC can only introduce such
information into the public domain with the consent of the head of the
respective authority.
We also learn of reporting deficits in that less than a quarter of new
allegations (53 out of a total of 272 picked up in a final pro forma
check for its Annual Report) were reported to the National Board despite
its expectation that it receive reports concurrently with civil
authorities.
Despite the valiant efforts made by the Board to deliver top notch
training to ensure adherence to the highest standards of child
protection, it is disappointing to note that additional funding to
facilitate such training is not forthcoming and will now need to be
recouped through a participation charge on attendees.
The bishops especially must understand that the events of Wednesday 11th
May severely undermine their claims that a corner has been decisively
turned with the setting up of the NBSCCCI. Its chairman's reiteration
of the need for changes in church governance is now emphatically
justified.
We call on church leaders to realise that the collapse of trust in their
leadership is now critical, and to remove all obstacles to the immediate
publication of NBSCCCI reviews of child safeguarding practice.
Prelates atone
in Dublin for the mishandling of abuse -
Sunday February 20th 2011
In a liturgy scripted by victims of abuse, two of the Catholic church's
foremost dignitaries have formally apologised for abuse resulting from the mishandling of the issue by Catholic bishops.
For Marie Collins, survivor of abuse in Dublin archdiocese, the most
important words were spoken by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin:
"For the sins of bishops and religious superiors, when they failed to
respond as good shepherds to survivors of abuse by priests and
religious. For indifference in the face of human suffering, for putting
the institutional Church before the safety of children, for covering up
crimes of abuse, and by so doing actually caused the sexual abuse of
more children.
"For our lack of compassion and pastoral love, for the scandal given to
God’s People by our negligence and for the harm caused to the Church’s
mission by those in authority and responsibility. We ask God’s
forgiveness for the deaf ear, the blind eye and the hard heart."
Visiting Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston also
apologised on behalf of the pope.
Full text of the service.
The lay apostolate ...
is a participation in the saving mission of the Church itself.
Through their baptism and confirmation, all are commissioned to that
apostolate by the Lord Himself. (Vatican II Decree on the
Apostolate of the Laity.) |
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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