THOUSANDS of children were raped and abused by Catholic priests, many of them serial offenders in the Dublin diocese over a 30-year period, a shocking report on clerical sex abuse will reveal next month.The horrendous scale of the abuse between 1975 and 2004 was revealed yesterday by Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, who urged his priests and Catholic lay people to receive the damning report by Judge Yvonne Murphy with "humility".
Archbishop Martin said that since he took over the running of the country's biggest diocese five years ago, he had read secret files which he handed over to the Murphy Commission and had heard the tragic personal stories of victims.
From published statistics and from listening to victims, it was possible, he said, to name and identify at least 500 paedophile priests.
But he warned that because a number of these identified priests were serial abusers "the numbers of victims must be going into thousands".
Torture
"This is a sad thing to say," added the former diplomat who was appointed by the late Pope John Pope II five years ago to clean up the clerical sexual abuse scandals that devastated the period in office of his predecessor, Cardinal Desmond Connell.
Addressing the Holy Thursday Chrism Mass in Dublin's Pro-Cathedral, which was attended by priests from throughout the archdiocese, Archbishop Martin said that the full horror of decades of physical, sexual and psychological torture of children has not been recognised.
Admitting publicly that "the archdiocese of Dublin is facing challenges of a kind that it has not experienced for many years," he said "the Report of the Commission on Child Sexual Abuse will shock us all.
"It is likely that thousands of children or young people across Ireland were abused by priests in the period under investigation and the horror of that abuse was not recognised for what it is."
Last night a senior church source told the Irish Independent that the report of the Government-appointed Commission of Investigation into the Archdiocese of Dublin is likely to be published in "the next four to six weeks time".
The report is expected to be severely critical of the handling and covering up of abuse complaints by Cardinal Connell and his two predecessors, the late Archbishops Kevin McNamara and Dermot Ryan.
The Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation was established in 2006 to investigate allegations of child sexual abuse involving Dublin diocesan priests, as well as priests and members of religious orders who worked in or were attached to the capital's parishes and schools.
This report was considered necessary by Bertie Ahern's Government after huge public revulsion over the scale of abuse revealed in a similar inquiry into the Diocese of Ferns in Co Wexford.
In recent months Archbishop Martin had been bracing his priests and people for even worse findings in the Dublin report which had been due out in January, but was postponed after the Government extended its remit to investigate Bishop John Magee's handling of complaints in the Diocese of Cloyne in Co Cork.
In recent years Archbishop Martin has published an annual audit which has shown that between 1940 and 2008, child sexual abuse allegations were made against 77 priests of the Dublin Diocese, while suspicions were raised about another nine.
"The report will make each of us and the entire church in Dublin a humbler church," added Archbishop Martin.
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(Source: II)
What is it that has attracted thousands of perverts worldwide to join the ranks of the Catholic Church as Priests.
ReplyDeleteFrom a personal observance I think it is the fact that by becoming a Priest you were and sometimes still are treated like some kind of God set apart from the rest of the human race (when you have done nothing to either earn or deserve this). Therefore you know that by being called Father, Bishop or whatever and wearing the GARB it is a cover to let you continue with your perverted ways and mostly get away with it.
Those who were not perverts were just as bad for condoning and hiding it all. Aiding and abetting makes them just as guilty and they should all hang their heads in shame the lot of them.
Those thousands of children in Ireland and throughout the world have had their lives ruined forever living with the daily horrors of what happened to them and their families are suffering too for not standing up to the perverts themselves when the Church would not do what was right at the time.
Despite being the prime enablers of clerical child abuse, despite consistently covering up for pedophile priests, despite moving them even to other countries to avoid prosecution, none of our hierarchy have faced criminal charges.
ReplyDeleteThis shows just how, shockingly, bishops are above the Law.
If any other employer/ supervisor behaved as the bishops have done in respect of their staff using their job to gain access to and abuse children can anyone doubt those employers/supervisors would be arrested?
And even recently in the Bishop Magee case where there were uncontested allegations of the Bishop operating a policy of concealing information from the police, no charges have been laid.
Does anyone think that if the Dublin Diocese report shows Cardinal Connell was guilty of covering up for pedophile priests any charges will be brought?
Bishops apparently don't commit crimes, they commit 'errors of judgment'.
Perhaps the shoplifters and tv license evaders parading through our courts every week for far far lessor crimes than some of our bishops have committed, should try this 'error of judgment' defense.
I agree 100% with Anonymous but when you have the law and the medical profession in your pocket because you are the Catholic Church you have little or no chance of ever getting justice.
ReplyDeleteThe medical profession over the years saw horrific cases of abuse with children and did they go to the Gardai and INSIST that those who commited the crimes against the innocent ones get their just desserts in prison. Not a bit of it. Did the Gardai who had to know for years also turn in the other direction with their motto being hear no evil see no evil therefore there is no evil because those ordained in the Catholic Church would not do such a thing because we are brainwashed to believe that and because they SAY they are innocent. If you don't believe them when they SAY they are innocent then they will PROVE it at hearings by going in and swearing on GOD'S HOLY BIBLE and lie their heads off with impunity and not be the least concerned that they won't make it to the top of the list for the Pearly gates because after all they are the ones today preaching that God forgives everything and God is love so go ahead sin away abuse away there is no deterrent any more that you will even be punished in the next life never mind in this.
What kind of moral teaching is this. If you are to listen to some Priests preach nowadays it seems to put us on the same footing with God as Saddam, Hitler and the likes. No matter WHAT you do, no matter how many millions you murder or abuse, you still get to heaven. If that is the true facts then I think a lot of us would like to book our trips in the afterlife to Hell right now - hopefully Ryanair will have charters in the future because it will be a sell out if we have to spend eternity hob nobbing with these abusers and murderers of men women and children.
Getting back to the subject of no real punishment or prosecution and long long prison sentences for the Bishops and Cardinal who covered up it will never happen because they are still in the Gardai's pockets.
It was unbelieveable that Cardinal Connell did not want to reveal files and names of abusers. He wanted to protect them at all costs. Why should they ever have been promised protection by him or anyone else for their wicked crimes against children. It means even to this day Cardinal Connell still puts his abusing Priests who should be in Prison before the damaged men and women who were abused as children.
Really and truly the Church is well past its sell by date.
It is not a humbler Church as His Grace has said. If it was it would have said "we disband because WE ARE NOT CAPABLE OF RUNNING JESUS CHURCH WE HAVE DESTROYED IT AND TURNED IT TO A CRUMBLING RUIN A SHAME TO ALL HUMANITY."
Again I say to all of the red hatted and frocked ones God forgive you all.
I know the lying at hearings will not stop. I know one man just rearing to get back to some hearings so he can lie his heart out again and his crony witnesses bought and paid for by him and his Church too. Again do they worry about what they do? No he has probably even granted them Indulgences for their services to him to get him and his Church off the hook.
And we wonder why churches are empty. The last laugh is on the Church itself. Corruption and no accountability = dying Church.
Hell and brimstone is too good for the lot of them!