PROBLEMS “of arrogance, or power and feelings of superiority’’ of
priests, the ‘’architecture of hierarchy’’ in Irish society and “the
disenfranchisement of women’’ were among explanations offered by
speakers in Drogheda for the clerical child sex abuse problem in Ireland
and elsewhere in the Catholic Church.
In approximately 70
minutes, 12 people spoke briefly in an atmosphere which was always frank
and open, occasionally robust but never hostile.
One woman
suggested that “the Pope should stand down as an act of atonement to
those who were abused’’ while a man pleaded on behalf of priests who no
longer can “engage in any meaningful way with children”. “My son’s
godfather is a priest. He can’t even take him to the pictures,’’ he
said.
Approximately 100 people attended, most of them older people
and most of them women.
It was organised by the former Archbishop of
Westminster Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor as part of his Apostolic
Visitation to Armagh archdiocese.
The cardinal is being accompanied by
Dr Sheila Hollins, professor of the UK Board of Psychiatry, Msgr Mark
O’Toole, rector of Allen Hall Seminary in Chelsea, and Sr Clement Doran.
The
cardinal, Prof Hollins and Msgr O’Toole addressed the meeting briefly
at the beginning. As summarised by Msgr O’Toole, they were there to
listen and garner “what was there in the past in the church in Ireland
that allowed this abuse scandal”.
Acting as MC he said the
visitors also wished to determine whether safeguarding practises which
currently apply were “robust enough”, what people’s hopes for the future
of the church were, and what were their expectations of the visitation.
Of the 12 speakers, three were women and three of the 12 chose to give their names.
Pat
Clinton insisted on the importance of the visitation taking on board
academic studies, such as one undertaken at Stanford University, on the
uses of authority and how this could lead to ‘’the engineering of a
false consensus’’ that allowed Nazi officers to listen to classical
music after a day’s work in a concentration camps.
Michael Hickey
said that one common thing the last 10 years in Ireland had illustrated
was that “the archtiecture of hierarchy was unfit for purpose right
across the board”.
Psychotherapist Carol Burke appealed for ‘’re-education around sexuality, from top to bottom”.
SIC: IT/IE