A senior US churchman visiting Dublin to examine how children are
protected against paedophile priests has told parishioners he had not
come to offer a quick fix.
Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the
Archbishop of Boston, called on survivors who were harmed, as well as
lay people and the religious, to come forward.
The cleric said the crisis of the sexual abuse of minors had profound repercussions for entire communities.
"I come to listen, not to offer a quick fix," Cardinal O'Malley told Mass-goers in St Mary's Pro Cathedral in Dublin.
"I come to listen to your pain, your anger, but also your hopes and aspirations."
Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin celebrated Mass with the Cardinal at the start of his investigation visit.
The
unprecedented probe was announced by the Pope in his letter to the
Catholics of Ireland last March in response to the catalogue of abuse
outlines in the Murphy and Ryan reports.
The Cardinal said much
had already been done in Dublin to address the crimes of the past, to
ensure the safety of children and to provide assistance to victims.
"The
task of the visitation is to bring new eyes to the situation, to verify
the effectiveness of the present processes used in responding to cases
of abuse," he added.
"We are not here to reduplicate investigations or studies of the past."
SIC: BT/UK