Monday, April 11, 2011

Church must become ‘restorative community’ for abuse survivors: Dr Martin

Speaking at an international conference on restorative justice in relation to clerical sex abuse, the Archbishop of Dublin has said that the Church must become a restorative community for all.   

In a frank and humble address, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin told his own experience of becoming Archbishop of Ireland’s most populous diocese, and coming into contact with the horror of child sex abuse by clergy and the disastrous way the Church had handled it.

“The Archdiocese of Dublin got it spectacularly wrong,” he told the international gathering at Marquette University, Milwaukee.

He recalled the first complaint about a priest’s behaviour that landed on his desk.  On the top of the file was a yellow page saying, “Inspected regarding CSA - Nothing found.”  

However the very next document was an internal note, “Father X seems to be back to his old activities.” 

“Clearly there was knowledge of ‘old activities’ but no clear understanding that these activities indicated an on-going serious pattern of grooming which should clearly have raised red flags.”

The Murphy investigation revealed that in the period between 1940 and 2010 allegations or suspicions of sexual abuse were made against over 90 priests of the Archdiocese and against 60 religious priests who held diocesan appointments.  

Of these, Archbishop Martin estimated that about ten were “serial paedophiles.”  

Twelve priests have been convicted of criminal offences. 

Reading the Murphy Report, the archbishop’s dominant emotion was anger.  

“Anger at what was done to children; anger at the grief of parents who live still today with feelings of guilt and bewilderment; anger at the fact that the Church failed its weakest; anger at those who still seem to be in denial.”

All institutions have an innate tendency to protect themselves and to hide their dirty laundry, said Dr Martin. 

“We have to learn that the truth has a power to set free which half-truths do not have.”

He went on, “The first condition for restorative justice is that all parties are willing to tell the truth and to take ownership of the truth, even when the truth is unpleasant.”  

Restorative justice was not cheap justice, without the recognition of wrongdoing and without putting the balance right.  The lost child, the molested child had to be at the centre.

“In the case of serial sexual offenders restorative justice is not about restoration to ministry.  
There can be admission of guilt on the part of the offender and even expression of forgiveness on the part of a victim, but the Bishop has to establish a balance between the need to rehabilitate offenders and the duty to protect children.” 

Archbishop Martin spoke of the lack of real remorse that he saw in most clerical sex offenders, “with perhaps two exceptions.”

However, offenders could not be simply abandoned.  

On release from prison, the Church still had a responsibility to priests, even if they were laicised, firstly to ensure that they were no risk to children.

“The primary responsibility here should be of public authorities and regrettably the legislative framework in the Republic of Ireland still leaves a great deal to be desired in this regard.  There are a number of laicised priest offenders living in Dublin – some who were incardinated in United States dioceses and barely known to us – who are still in total denial of their wrong-doing and who must be therefore considered high risk and yet are not even on a sex-offenders list,” he said.

Currently the Archdiocese of Dublin has a specific member of its Child Safeguarding team who carries out the work the work of monitoring offenders and a small committee supports him.  

Addressing the question of what “restorative justice” means for victims, he said promises must be kept, deadlines and established norms respected.  

“To victims, any attempt at covering-up or backtracking on norms signifies betrayal.”

“For restorative justice to work in a Church environment then the Church becomes a restorative community – a restorative community for all.”

Finally, he called for a formation regime for priests that would foster “rounded human beings.”  

He recommended they spend part of their formation period together with lay people so that they can establish mature relationships with men and women.  

The conference, called Harm, Hope, and Healing: International Dialogue on the Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal, took place on the April 4 and 5 and featured the stories of survivors of abuse, and panellists from Australia, Ireland and the US, including representatives from the Boston Archdiocese where a sex abuse scandal broke almost a decade ago.