Friday, February 19, 2010

Sex abuse survivors set to meet Martin

SURVIVORS of clerical sex abuse and the One in Four support group are due to meet with Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin today (Friday) to discuss the ongoing fallout from the bishops’ meeting with the Pope in the Vatican.

Marie Collins, Andrew Madden and One in Four chief executive Maeve Lewis will meet with the archbishop to discuss "disgust" at the Vatican’s statement following the meeting.

Andrew Madden said he wants to ask the archbishop two questions.

"Firstly, can he tell us why the submissions made by survivors were ignored and secondly, did he ask the Pope, before he left Rome, how he and the other bishops could face survivors and the people of Ireland when there was no acknowledgement of us and our statements in the proceedings," he said.

Maeve Lewis said even the most hardened survivors, who spent many years battling with the Catholic Church over clerical abuse, were shocked at the contents of the Vatican statement.

"The Pope missed such a huge opportunity here. There were many people who thought this meeting in Rome would be a turning point but it was anything but. We understand they operate much slower in the Vatican and that they use a more diplomatic language. People were, however, insulted by the Pope’s failure to acknowledge what was allowed to happen by the Church and also to discuss the Papal Nuncio’s failure to co-operate with the Murphy commission," she said.

"My hope is the archbishop won’t be silenced by all of this and that he will continue to be a huge symbol of hope to survivors."

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre described the meeting as "yet another let down in a long, long line of let-downs".

"The survivors and victims are the most important people... and those who have contacted the national helpline were not surprised by the lack of anything meaningful coming from the meeting with the Pope. It is quite unbelievable at this stage... the Pope and the bishops don’t get it even yet. No acknowledgment of cover up was in the statement from the meeting nor was there any apology to the survivors. The victims were again ignored," said chief executive Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop.
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