Dear Sir,Your remarks of September 16 and yesterday concerning church authorities' handling of child rape complaints give the impression that neither John Paul II nor yourself knew of how these complaints were being managed.
Can you please make clear exactly who has been running the church since 1979?
You have said church authorities did not act quickly or decisively in dealing with complaints. This is entirely dishonest.
In fact authorities acted extremely quickly and decisively, but in protection of priests and the church, not of children.
In your letter to Irish mass-goers you said the Irish hierarchy in transferring abusive priests had acted with "a well-intentioned desire to protect the reputation of the church".
If there is now any such well-intentioned desire on your part then why have you not in outrage fired every employee of the church who contributed even in the remotest of ways, consciously or unconsciously, to the murder of Christ as made manifest in those children who were ravaged?
It looks extremely bad that you have not done so. And that you continue to set up lies and smoke-screens and treat us as if we are stupid.
Spokespeople on your behalf keep saying, falsely, that hierarchies acted independently of the vatican, when countless pleading letters from bishops to the vatican show that is not the case. As do the specific instructions issued by the vatican in 1962 to all bishops for dealing with complaints of rape. Those instructions required the victim making complaints, as well as the cleric taking complaints, to sign an oath (the Brady oath) of silence under threat of excommunication.
Your letter of 2001 to all bishops confirms the 1962 instructions were in operation until 2001.
Why do you allow your representatives to lie?
Do you not deserve better from your employees?
We deserve better.
As long as the house of The Holy Spirit remains a haven for criminals, the church's reputation will remain ruined.
The Holy Spirit deserves better.
Which reminds me. You have terrible PR people.
If I were you I'd give them the boot too.
Sinead
SIC: II/IE