THE HOLY See has said the senior churchmen who will shortly visit Ireland as part of an “Apostolic Visitation” will “give particular attention to victims of abuse”.In a statement issued last night by the Holy See press office, the Vatican expressed the hope that “this significant endeavour” (the visitation) will serve as an “instrument of healing for the Church in Ireland” which will help “restore the trust and hope of the faithful”.
The Vatican communique said: “Mindful of the tragic abuse of children that has taken place in Ireland . . . the visitors will give particular attention to victims of abuse and their families, but will also meet with and listen to a variety of people, including ecclesiastical authorities, lay faithful and those involved with the crucial work of the safeguarding of children.”
Asked whether this meant the visitors would be meeting victims and their families, a church spokesman said “there is no further detail in relation to it (the visitation) yet”.
The statement pointed out that the Curia met with the four designated archdiocesan visitors – English Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor (Armagh), Boston Cardinal Seán O’Malley (Dublin), Toronto Archbishop Christopher Collins (Cashel) and Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast (Tuam) – on Tuesday, prior to meeting with the Irish bishops yesterday.
When meeting with the four Irish prelates yesterday – Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop Dermot Clifford and Archbishop Michael Neary – the visitors and senior figures from the Congregation of Bishops and the Secretariat of State “summarised the discussions from the previous day and focused on the organisation of the Apostolic Visitation” in a spirit of “fraternal warmth and mutual collaboration”, the statement read.
Earlier in the day, Cardinal Brady had offered an upbeat assessment of this week’s meetings when talking briefly to journalists, saying: “As you know, the Holy Father announced this Apostolic Visitation last March in his pastoral letter to the Irish. He said then that he did that after consultation with ourselves and that the visit would be carried out in co-operation with the Irish bishops. And that’s the work that is going on now. The emphasis now is on the journey to renewal. We hope that it will help in some way, that journey towards renewal. It was a very good and positive meeting [today]. . . ”
Cardinal Brady, who was accompanied by Archbishop Dermot Clifford, said that the meeting had been very “cordial and helpful”, whilst Archbishop Clifford said that one of the objectives of the visitation would be to “assist us in our pastoral programme for the future, with regard to safeguarding children and in healing those who have been abused by priests”.
SIC: IT/IE