Home
Our Mission
Our Goals
Our Record
Who We Are
Where We Are
Child Protection
Survivor Support
Survivor Testimony
Clergy Support
Positions
Educating Ourselves
Coming Events
History
Site Index
Contact Us
Links |
Reflecting on the content of the report of the Irish state inquiry
into clerical child sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland
Your Holiness,
Once again our church has been most grievously shocked and mystified to
learn of the endangerment of thousands of Catholic children by senior
bishops, to whom was given by Our Lord the instruction “feed my lambs.”
This situation is painfully familiar. Repeating the tragedy of Boston,
Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Ferns, Cloyne, Sydney and so many other
dioceses worldwide, four archbishops of Ireland’s most populous diocese
have behaved in a manner that facilitated the deepest psychological,
emotional and spiritual trauma to many children. They have also
endangered gravely the divine mission of the church, as well as the
souls once more repelled from it.
This, and the fact that such misgovernance has been revealed only by
outside agencies of accountability, not by the Catholic Church itself,
must surely compel Church leadership to consider the following
questions:
* Why have so many bishops behaved secretly in this way, without check
or hindrance, in over twenty countries, for decades?
* How can we ensure that a culture of Christian openness, accountability
and safety will henceforward prevail at all levels of church
administration in all dioceses?
* How can we measure and address the pain of countless victims?
You yourself declared to the bishops of Ireland at their last Ad Limina
visit of 2006:
“The wounds caused by such acts run deep, and it is an urgent task to
rebuild confidence and trust where these have been damaged. In your
continuing efforts to deal effectively with this problem, it is
important to establish the truth of what happened in the past, to take
whatever steps are necessary to prevent it from occurring again, to
ensure that the principles of justice are fully respected and, above
all, to bring healing to the victims and to all those affected by these
egregious crimes."
The time to act is now. The secrecy must come to an end. We are
convinced that this programme cannot be speedily achieved in Ireland or
elsewhere without the deployment of the full authority of your own
office. We hope also that your own determination in this regard is
unquestionable, and ask you urgently:
1 To institute a thorough church-wide inquiry into all aspects of the
clerical child abuse catastrophe, including the reasons why so many
bishops endangered so many children by their failure to act decisively
against sexual predators.
2 To publish the findings of that inquiry for the enlightenment of the
church and the world.
3 To note the call for a ‘culture of accountability’ in the church by
the Irish National Board for the Safeguarding of Children, and the
observation made by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin on the feast of
the Epiphany 2009 that "We have to have a system whereby people are
pushed to be accountable.”
4 To begin the task of ensuring that the administrative structures of
the church do not continue to fall so far short of what is now so
obviously necessary to protect its most vulnerable and innocent
members. This will require the practical implementation of this
Christian principle of accountability.
5 To accept that this principle of accountability cannot be achieved
while so many bishops and archbishops, who have knowingly over a
considerable period of time permitted this tragedy to persist, continue
in office. It is time to remove the enablers and replace them with
bishops who will take seriously their responsibility to the People of
God, and especially to Children.
You yourself have outlined these principles of truth, justice and
healing. We believe that all three principles are blessed and supported
by the Most Holy Trinity, and that these five steps are essential if
these principles are to prevail. Action must be taken and it is now up
to you.
Yours respectfully,
Sean O'Conaill
Acting Coordinator
Voice of the Faithful (Ireland)
|
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.
|
