Pope Benedict’s proposal for an Apostolic visitation of some dioceses, seminaries and religious congregations shows the gravity with which the Vatican regards the situation in Ireland.An Apostolic visitation is a formal process whereby the Pope nominates specific individuals, probably from outside Ireland, to examine particular aspects of the Church’s life.
In December 2008, the Vatican announced a visitation of women’s religious orders in the United States.
This was followed last April by an announcement that the US Leadership Conference of Women Religious was also under scrutiny because of its support for causes such as the ordination of women.
The New York Times reported that the visitation had ‘‘startled and dismayed nuns, who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal inquisition’’.
The same may happen in Ireland.
The Apostolic visitors will have the full backing of the Pope to investigate whatever they consider necessary.
The Vatican is likely to appoint a number of senior officials to make personal visits to those dioceses which have been most mired in the clerical sexual abuse controversy, to talk to victims, examine records, interview abusers and discuss with diocesan bishops ways of ensuring th at nothing similar happens again.
Apostolic visitors will also examine Ireland’s seminaries - a much simpler task since most diocesan seminaries have closed down due to the shortage of vocations.
One visitor will concentrate on the national seminary at Maynooth - where the former head of the seminary, papal adviser Monsignor Micheal Ledwith, resigned and was stripped of his right to celebrate the sacraments after allegations of sexual abuse of seminarians.
The Vatican will also examine those religious orders which have been to the forefront in the abuse of children, including the Christian Brothers and the Norbertines, the order to which serial abuser Fr Brendan Smyth belonged.
The Pope’s pastoral was read for the first time in public by Cardinal Sean Brady following Mass in Armagh Cathedral yesterday.
The Pope said he shared the ‘‘dismay and the sense of betrayal’’ of many Catholics on learning of these ‘‘sinful and criminal acts, and the way Church authorities in Ireland dealt with them’’.
He said the factors which had led to the crisis included inadequate procedures for choosing seminary candidates, insufficient formation for seminarians, society’s tendency to favour priests and a misplaced concern for the Church’s reputation. To the victims of abuse and their families, Pope Benedict expressed shame and remorse, but asked them not to lose hope. He said priests and religious who had abused children must answer ‘‘before Almighty God and before properly constituted tribunals’’.
He said abusers had ‘‘forfeited the esteem of the people of Ireland and brought shame and dishonour’’ on other clergy. He told abusers to openly acknowledge their guilt and submit themselves to the demands of justice. The Pope also addressed parents, young people and priests and religious, many of whom felt ‘‘personally discouraged, even abandoned’’.
The Pope’s strongest criticism was reserved for the bishops, some of whom had ‘‘failed, at times grievously, to apply the long-established norms of canon law to the crime of child abuse’’.
He said their mistakes and grave errors of judgment had seriously undermined their credibility.
He called on the bishops to ‘‘continue to cooperate with the civil authorities in their area of competence’’ and to continue revising and updating the Church’s chi ld safety norms.
He asked Catholics to offer their Friday penances for the next year for the Church and to make more use of the sacrament of confession, and he said every diocese should have churches specifically devoted to Eucharistic adoration.
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