Saturday, January 08, 2011

Archbishop of Boston to meet victims of clerical sex abuse during Irish visit

VICTIMS OF clerical abuse in the Dublin diocese will meet the Archbishop of Boston in the coming months as part of the work of a delegation sent to Ireland by Pope Benedict.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said Cardinal Seán OMalley had already visited Dublin at the beginning of December and would be returning this month and next month when he would mainly be meeting victims of clerical abuse in Ireland.

Cardinal Seán Brady said the former archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-OConnor, had visited the archdiocese of Armagh before Christmas.

“He will return this month accompanied by his team and we welcome it and we will co-operate,” Cardinal Brady said yesterday. 

Archbishop of Toronto Christopher Collins and Archbishop of Ottowa Terrence Prendergast are also visiting the archdioceses of Cashel and Tuam respectively.

The delegation is in Ireland to explore how cases of sexual abuse of children by priests were handled and to monitor the effectiveness of current procedures for preventing abuse in the Catholic Church in Ireland.

However, Cardinal Brady noted that the delegation formed just one part of the programme of renewal described by the Pope in his pastoral letter to the Catholics of Ireland last March.

The Holy See has indicated that the delegation is to complete its work by May. 

A spokesman for the church in Ireland said it would be a matter for the Vatican whether reports by the “apostolic visitors” would be made public thereafter.

SIC: IT/IE