Thursday, February 18, 2010

Pope has 'washed hands' of our abuse: victims

FURIOUS victims of clerical sex abuse last night accused the Pope of "washing his hands" of the scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church in Ireland.

Victims condemned Pope Benedict XVI for not acknowledging that senior clergy covered up decades of abuse.

They said the pontiff's unprecedented two-day summit with the 24 Irish bishops in the Vatican was "a charade", which had achieved nothing.

The bishops were summoned to Rome over the past mishandling of child abuse scandals that rocked the church last year.

The Ryan report found that the Catholic Church and Irish Government covered up almost four decades of sexual abuse and beatings by priests and nuns on thousands of children in state care. And the Murphy report unveiled a catalogue of cover-ups by the Catholic hierarchy in Dublin to protect the church.

But in a Vatican statement, the Pope failed to acknowledge the cover-up or apologise for the abuse -- leading to widespread condemnation from victims.

The Pope also failed to sack under-fire Bishop of Galway Martin Drennan -- or even formally accept the resignations of other bishops who were criticised in the Murphy report for their mishandling of cases of sexual abuse.

The pontiff also ignored the failure of the Papal Nuncio to co-operate with the Murphy Commission's investigation into abuse in Dublin.

In a statement, the Vatican said the Holy Father told the bishops the sexual abuse of children and young people was 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.

"While realising that the current painful situation will not be resolved quickly, he challenged the bishops to address the problems of the past with determination and resolve, and to face the present crisis with honesty and courage," it stated.

The Vatican said the Pope also told bishops the weakening of faith was a significant contributing factor in the phenomenon of the sexual abuse of minors.

Maeve Lewis, of support group One in Four, hit back and said Pope Benedict's response was inadequate.

"It is deeply insulting to survivors to suggest that they were abused due to failures of faith, rather than because sex-offending priests were moved from parish to parish, and those in authority looked away while further children were sexually abused," she said.

Concerns

Campaigner Andrew Madden, who was abused by Dublin priest Ivan Payne, said the meeting showed "self-preservation" was the church's priority. He said Pope Benedict and the bishops placed this over the concerns of people who had been abused for decades.

"I can only conclude the Catholic Church remains a disgraced, discredited organisation that seems to be entirely incapable of responding in any intelligent, meaningful way to the findings of the Ferns, Ryan and Murphy reports," he said.

Abuse victim and campaigner Marie Collins said the Pope insulted the survivors by failing to put the bishops' resignations on the agenda and again ignoring the chance of reforms.

"This is a clerical club in a clerical world. . . they are living in a different century," she said. "I see no hope for the future."

Goldenbridge orphanage survivor Christine Buckley labelled the Vatican's statement on abuse in Ireland "a charade".

She said she was disappointed with news the Pope is to issue a pastoral letter to Irish Catholics on the scandal.

"This is a charade. A collection of 24 bishops who appear to have been lectured about the disunity of their members rather than trying to find out why these abuses happened. Instead the Pope has washed his hands of it, he thinks a Lenten pastoral letter is going to help our pain. No, it is not."

The Rape Crisis Network also expressed deep disappointment at the outcome of the meeting.

Executive director Fiona Neary said: "It is now clear that the most senior levels of Catholic institutions remain unable to take responsibility for their collusion with the abuse of children in Ireland."
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