"...this storm threatens the wreck of the ship of the church; and hence it is that I, a timid sailor, cry out, "Keep watch, for the water has already made its entrance into the vessel, and the ship is in jeopardy..."These words were written by no less an Irishman than St Columbanus, to the then Pope, Boniface IV, in the 7th century - words that carry the same urgency and appeal as they did 14 centuries ago!!
The recent publication of the Health Service Executive (HSE) investigation into the Diocese of Cloyne has brought to the fore a subject which has steadfastly refused to go away for the Irish Roman Catholic church.
It will not do so until such time as it is effectively, honestly and appropriately dealt with, and not just 'managed' by the Hierarchy, who then attempt to side sweep it and no doubt hope and pray it shall remain that way.
However, after reflecting on this matter during the past few days, and having spoken with colleagues, it must be stated that even though the bishops may be giving their support and endorsement to the Child Protection Policy adopted, they very rarely actually give credence to putting them into force.
The one issue that stands out from the sage that is Cloyne is the ineffectiveness of the head of the fiefdom, Bishop John Magee, yet he remains as patron of 150 schools throughout the diocese. If that was the head of a different organisation, they would have been stepped down with immediate effect and face prosecution by the civil authorities.
On this blogspot heretofore, I have made reference to the special and cosy position the Irish RC Church has with the State and its agencies, notably An Garda Síochána (Irish 'police'), and there is no doubt in my mind and that of colleagues that this cosy cartel type relationship has yet again facilitated non-prosecution of clergy.
However, such inaction has led to the continued abuse of innocent children, the continued perverse actions of clergy going unchallenged and non-prosecution of aforementioned clergy and their superiors - in effect, the lack of action on behalf of the civil authorities is a form of abuse of the victims time and again.
One would never think that the special position of the Roman Catholic Church was removed from the Irish Constitution back in the early 1970's by a MAJORITY vote!!!
Personally, I am of the belief that;
* Bishop Magee SHOULD be stepped down with immediate effect by Rome, seeing as he is so arrogant in the belief that he has a right to remain on in his position;
* Archbishop Martin has FAILED to explicitly answer for such inaction on this by Rome, as indeed has Cardinal Brady who was in the Vatican in very recent days;
* Archbishop Clifford, Archbishop Neary, Bishops Kelly, Kirby, McAreavey, Freeman, Hegarty, and O'Reilly should be made to account for their remarks of support for Magee in this matter;
* every single one of the Irish RC dioceses in this country should be subjected to an audit, carried out preferably by an authority not composed of persons in Ireland, but rather from other countries where full, impartial and thorough investigations have already taken place;
* any archbishop, bishop or other cleric who obstructs, hinders or fails to work with such an investigation should be immediately arrested and charged for such an offence (with An Garda Síochána, they can rest easy from that happening!!), with a minimum sentence of 10 years behind bars for it;
* every single priest in this country have a full background check carried out and can only be licensed to minister once this has been cleared - this should be done every 5 years;
* any archbishop / bishop who knowingly permits a priest or religious with a questionable record to minister should be held to account for it and stepped down from office whilst under investigation;
* no deference would be shown to any clergy of any rank, most especially where the lives of children are concerned;
* ALL victims of Clerical CSA should be listened to, encouraged to participate and help find some resolution for themselves, and perhaps others, because not until the victims are helped can the church ever hope to begin to heal!!!
At this time, what also is worrying is the silence of the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, His Excellency Most Reverend Dr. Giuseppe Leanza, Titular Archbishop of Lilybaeum, (pictured here) who no doubt shall be reporting this piece to head office in Rome.
If, like myself and other colleagues, you too feel that Bishop Magee should be made step down - even if under Canon Law proviso of mental infirmity or health - then get in touch with him as follows...
His Excellency Most Reverend Dr. Giuseppe Leanza,
The Apostolic Nunciature
183 Navan Road
Dublin 7
Tel: +353(0)1 838 0577 / Fax: +353(0)1 838 0276
...and do not hesitate to let him know of YOUR dissatisfaction in relation to all of this.
The most practical way of course would be to withhold your collection money, and I for one, would not be upset at this idea because this is what it took in the USA when Cardinal Law was in charge...and we all know how that worked for him!!
Dear friends in Christ, our children are our most precious gifts to us from God, and we are ALL entrusted with their protection and once that is betrayed, then we are ALL accountable for our failures.
When we are not held to account, then the abuse continues under a different guise and the victims continue to feel unheard.
I will listen, I will help, but I cannot heal until YOU heal.
Let me finish with the words from St Columbanus further to those above, and as we read them, let us keep each other in our prayers and thoughts....
"Watch, therefore, I beg you, Pope, watch, and again I say watch!...your carelessness will be the destruction of many."
Sotto Voce
Minister for children Barry Andrews said that Bishop Magee failed to adhere to Church or State Guidelines in two cases where he did not notify the Health and Safety Authority (HSE) of abuse allegations. As far as I could see (through highly tendenteous media reporting), both of these were cases where the Bishop reported the claims to the Gardai but not to HSE as he assumed that the Gardai would do so.
ReplyDeleteWas THIS what all the hysteria was about?|
According to the Sunday Business Post today, this is PRECISELY what the hysteria is about.
See article "Crisis Deepens for the Catholic Church"
http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=IRELAND-qqqm=news-qqqid=38738-qqqx=1.asp
"The decision last week by Minister for Children Barry Andrews to ask an inquiry team to examine the handling of clerical abuse complaints in the Cork diocese of Cloyne followed the revelation that the diocese had failed to report clerical abuse allegations to the HSE.
Bishop John Magee told gardaí in December 2005 about a complaint of abuse dating back to the early 1980s against a priest dubbed ‘Fr W’. He breached agreed childcare guidelines established after the 2005 Ferns Inquiry by failing separately to tell the HSE about the case.
Magee told a team of HSE auditors that he made a genuine mistake. The long-awaited HSE audit into the handling of complaints made in each of the country’s Catholic dioceses, published last Tuesday, showed there were four allegations of abuse against clerics in Cloyne diocese which Magee had also not told the HSE about.
In each of these cases, Magee informed gardaí about the allegation. He did not conceal the information from the state authorities. In each case, the Director of Public Prosecutions examined files relating to the complaints.
The bishop told the HSE’s audit team last November that his mistake was a simple one. He said that he believed that, once he had informed the gardaí about the alleged abuse, they would pass the information onto the HSE."
The article goes on to say that the Gardai failed to inform the HSE. The HSE decided that in spite of this breakdown of communication the Diocese of Cloyne had done enough and did NOT require further investigation. The Sunday Business Post also states that Minister Barry Andrews had commented that it was "A POLITICAL DECISION" to require a further investigation and that this comment "MAY BE READ IN SEVERAL WAYS".
One of the ways it may be read, is as a Reaction to Public Hysteria that has been deliberately whipped up by the media!!
God Bless you Father for stating it like it is and not mincing your words.
ReplyDeleteI for one agree 100% with every point you have made. In particular I agree that the "special relationship" between Gardai and Church has not changed. When you have members of your local Garda Station telling you "it is time to drop legal cases against local clergy and move on" that is a total breach of trust from members of a force that is meant to remain neutral and not warning citizens off exercising their democratic rights but I know it happens because apart from intimidating me on several occasions on the instructions of a local Priest I was asked several tiimes to draw a line under things and move on and basically let the local Clergy away with what I considered wrong doing. My problems were small in comparison to the child abuse but to me no less wrong, hurtful and degrading and no man of the law has the right to warn you off exercising your rights and doing the 'heavy' for a local Priest.
Our country has a lot to answer for regarding corruption within the ranks of the Church, the Gardai, the general legal system who bow to the Priest at legal hearings and have formed opinions before a case is even heard, and our Politicians who sit back and let all of this happen.
All of the heads you mention should roll, the Papal Nuncio (past one) just passed the buck a few years ago regarding a case here in Ireland that I drew to his attention when I got no satisfaction from Bishop or Archbishop so I decided to move it up a notch but he passed buck back saying it was not in his jurisdiction refer to the Bishop or Archbishop who had basically ignored things so where do you go after that. Because it was important to me (but not to anyone in our local Irish Church) I got two addresses to write to in Rome but letters were as I expected ignored not so much as a postcard reply.
The arrogance amongst the members of the Church (unlike yourself) is quite mindboggling. Who with half a brain would want to be a member of such a Church who literally does not give a damn (pardon!) about anyone but themselves and making sure that they remain in power in their ivory towers regardless of who they trample underfoot. When they get caught out then they know they have 100% backing of their fellow Clergy who will watch their back (because most have something to hide so it is all the boys together) and then the State via the Gardai aid and abet the whole thing and the cycle of corruption goes on from generation to generation.
As you said the ship has started taking on water, it has for a long, long time. Maybe it is time for ALL the rats to sink with the ship and have a new beginning with completely new blood who maybe go back to the grass roots of why the Church came into being in the first place. Right now it is a sad sorry excuse of a Church with nobody willing to really make things better for its members and where it seems to remain a job for life (I'm on the gravy train!) which is totally wrong. Everyone should be accountable for their actions.
I also totally agree with your suggestion to hit them where it hurts in the collection plate. That has happened to a small extent in our local Parish with myself, extended family and friends boycotting all collections and dues owing to what is happening in the local Parish. Same Parish now having the nerve to start a canvas to increase donations or those not contributing to start giving donations because the Church is now going into debt by €750,000 because of mainly unnecessary work the Parish Priest is having done to boost his ailing ego. I know there will be many doors slammed, rightly so, when the canvas starts.
It was also upsetting to see the father of an alleged abuse victim on the news talking about a Priest who is meant to be fully supervised by the Church free to roam around the streets and shop on his own. Whatever about these Priests living in places where they are watched and home at night I doubt very much that they are watched 24 hours a day or made to stay indoors or that the Church would foot the bill for minders to accompany them on their days out.
Not 4 miles from our town is a residential centre for these Priests who abused and what has been built across the road from it but a childrens park and play area. I know of some parents who used to say when their children were there they noticed quite a lot of middle aged men walking around the park on their own. They were then horrified to learn they were most likely the residents from across the road. Now you see parents there sitting watching over their children when they are in there playing.
I was also horrified to hear Priests discuss that a certain Priest WAS NOW OUT and he could be used as a supply Priest if they were stuck for holidays etc. Not sure if he was OUT from prison or OUT from hospital treatment but it did not sound good either way.
You were right to state that anyone who aids and abets should serve time in prison. With our legal system and prisons in the state that they are if they won't even charge the lower ranks for their misdeeds can we ever see the day when a Bishop or Archbishop would end up in Prison for his wrongdoing? Also I found it hard to believe that when asked Archbishop Martin had not been in touch with or spoken to Bishop Magee about his resignation or otherwise. You would think that would have been the first thing he would have done.
It is like the Church has got caught up in a tsunami and is in danger of being washed away by the corruption within its own ranks.
It is going to take a lot of prayers to restore some order to it and for it to gain back the respect it once had. Respect has to be earned as we all know so those within the ranks have a lot of backpeddaling to do and a lot of broken bridges to mend. The sooner they start the better but there seems to be no sign of it as yet just cover ups and trying various ways at damage limitation.