Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Pope Benedict lambasts Irish Catholic church over 'heinous' child sex abuse

Pope Benedict XVI gave the bishops of the Irish Catholic church a public dressing down at the Vatican today over the "heinous" child abuse scandal that has capsized the church's moral authority in Ireland.

However, doubts remain about the church's openness after the papal envoy in Dublin declined to give evidence to a parliamentary inquiry there.

After two days of discussions in the Vatican, during which each of the 24 Irish bishops was called in separately and given seven minutes to explain his conduct, an official statement was issued.

"The Holy Father observed that the sexual abuse of children and young people is not only a heinous crime, but also a grave sin which offends God and wounds the dignity of the human person created in his image," it said. "While realising that the painful situation will not be resolved quickly [the pope] challenged the bishops to address the problems of the past with determination and resolve and to face the crisis with honesty and courage."

Before the crisis meeting, the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, had called on clergy who had abused children to admit to their "abominable acts" in a scandal that threatened to sink the church in Ireland. He told the bishops: "The most dangerous storm is that which touches the heart of believers, shaking their faith and threatening their capacity to entrust themselves to God."

That call was undermined in Dublin by the news that the papal nuncio in Ireland, Cardinal Giuseppe Leanza, has refused to appear before a parliamentary inquiry in the Dáil, saying in a letter last week that "it is not the practice of the Holy See that apostolic nuncios appear before parliamentary commissions". Leanza has ignored requests from earlier official Irish investigations to assist them.

The pope is due to write a letter to Irish Catholics in the spring which is expected to echo that he shares their "outrage, betrayal and shame" at the evidence produced in two official reports last year which showed what had been alleged for decades – that the church covered up and denied abuse by priests over many years.

November's Murphy report damningly stated that the church had obsessively covered up abuse in the Dublin archdiocese, bolstered by its dominant position in Irish life, and that bishops had been more concerned to safeguard the reputation of the church than to protect children.

Today's Vatican statement acknowledged the church's failure to act effectively and admitted there had been a breakdown in trust in the church's leadership in Ireland. "There is no doubt that errors of judgement and omissions stand at the heart of the crisis," it said.

Four bishops have offered their resignations, but only one has been accepted, amid squabbles between the bishops over degrees of culpability.
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SIC: TG