ARCHBISHOP
of Dublin Diarmuid Martin unequivocally apologised for the Church’s
failure to prevent child abuse in the wake of the publication of chapter
19 of the Murphy report.
Dublin’s most senior Catholic cleric stated that the
chapter unveiled "the tragic and shocking story of how a devious,
predatory paedophile used the priesthood to gain access to young
children and abuse them and how no one stopped him for years".
In a statement Dr Martin said: "The first lesson to be learned from this is that in the cases of serial compulsive paedophiles, only decisive action is capable of stopping them ... Procrastination and indecisiveness are a part of a climate in which paedophiles flourish."
He was unequivocal as to what should have been the correct response when clerics became aware of abuse allegations.
"Abusing a child was and is a crime in civil law, was and is a crime in canon law; it was and is a grievous sin. Any form of sexual interference with a child is non-consensual, abusive and an act of violence. The theology of the time recognised that rape and sexual assault of anybody is wrong. The theology of the time was well aware of compulsive and recidivist sexual activity. It’s difficult to understand that people acted differently when the victims were children."
On behalf of the Archdiocese of Dublin he repeated his apology to the victims of Tony Walsh and their families, stating: "I renew the words of apology I expressed in Ballyfermot last Sunday; I apologise unreservedly for the hurt caused and for the way the Church managed these matters."
Dr Martin concluded: "The report chronicles a frightening moment in the history of the Church in Dublin. As I have said on other occasions, in many aspects the Church in Ireland had allowed itself to drift into a position where its role in society had grown beyond what is legitimate. It acted as a world apart. It had often become self-centred and arrogant. It felt that it could be forgiving of abusers in a simplistic manner and rarely empathised with the hurt of children. The first step on the road to renewal is for our Church to recognise what went wrong to honestly acknowledge with no ‘buts’ and no conditionality the gravity and the extent of what happened."
In a statement Dr Martin said: "The first lesson to be learned from this is that in the cases of serial compulsive paedophiles, only decisive action is capable of stopping them ... Procrastination and indecisiveness are a part of a climate in which paedophiles flourish."
He was unequivocal as to what should have been the correct response when clerics became aware of abuse allegations.
"Abusing a child was and is a crime in civil law, was and is a crime in canon law; it was and is a grievous sin. Any form of sexual interference with a child is non-consensual, abusive and an act of violence. The theology of the time recognised that rape and sexual assault of anybody is wrong. The theology of the time was well aware of compulsive and recidivist sexual activity. It’s difficult to understand that people acted differently when the victims were children."
On behalf of the Archdiocese of Dublin he repeated his apology to the victims of Tony Walsh and their families, stating: "I renew the words of apology I expressed in Ballyfermot last Sunday; I apologise unreservedly for the hurt caused and for the way the Church managed these matters."
Dr Martin concluded: "The report chronicles a frightening moment in the history of the Church in Dublin. As I have said on other occasions, in many aspects the Church in Ireland had allowed itself to drift into a position where its role in society had grown beyond what is legitimate. It acted as a world apart. It had often become self-centred and arrogant. It felt that it could be forgiving of abusers in a simplistic manner and rarely empathised with the hurt of children. The first step on the road to renewal is for our Church to recognise what went wrong to honestly acknowledge with no ‘buts’ and no conditionality the gravity and the extent of what happened."
SIC: IXE/IE