Visitation to Armagh set to begin on Sunday

Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, the emeritus Archbishop of Westminster and one of the Vatican-appointed apostolic visitors to the Church in Ireland, is to begin his visitation to the Archdiocese of Armagh on January 9.

He is to be accompanied by Professor Sheila Hollins, Professor of the Board of Psychiatry at St George’s University of London, and Mgr Mark O’Toole, Rector of Allen Hall seminary in Chelsea.

As Armagh readies itself for the commencement of the visitation, the Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Seán Brady, has said the Irish Church must ask itself what went wrong in its proclamation and living of the Christian life that the clerical abuse scandals were allowed to occur.

At a Mass for the special day of prayer last Sunday for renewal of the faith in the Church in Ireland, the Primate said in his homily that this was the moment, “to offer, with the Pope, heartfelt thanks to all those who work to help survivors, in helping to restore their trust in the Church, and their capacity to believe her message”.

He said that the Church leadership and the Church collectively asks “for the graces to accept humiliation as an exhortation to truth and a call to renewal” and added, “We too ask for a new resoluteness in faith and in doing good and in doing penance.”

Saying the New Year was a time of hope, the Cardinal said this special day for prayer was also an occasion to give thanks “for the many good priests who act as channels of the Lord’s goodness in humility and fidelity.” 

The leader of the Church in Ireland explained that the decision to dedicate the first Sunday of 2011 as a day of special prayer was taken by the Irish Bishops Conference at their December meeting.

The occasion was not only aimed at the renewal of the faith in the Church in Ireland, but also “for a renewal of hope in the face of widespread doom and gloom which prevails – North and South – in Ireland at the present time.”

Expressing his sadness at the decision by so many to no longer practice their faith, he said he found it hard to understand “how so many say no to the Lord and choose to go by another route.” 

For those who remained loyal to the Church, there was the “fantastic promise” of Christ’s invitation “to rise up with him.”

Meanwhile the Archbishop of Toronto, Archbishop Thomas Collins, is due to spend a number of weeks in the Archdiocese of Cashel & Emly from the end of the month, while the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who spent nearly a week in the Archdiocese of Dublin last November, saying he had come “to listen, not to offer a quick fix”, is due to return to Dublin over the coming weeks.

The apostolic visitation to the Irish Church will encompass the four Catholic archdioceses of Armagh, Dublin, Cashel & Emly, and Tuam, as well as a visitation to the seminaries by the Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan which will include Maynooth and the Irish College in Rome.

The second phase of the visitation will include a visitation to male religious congregations by Redemptorist Fr Joseph Tobin and Jesuit Fr Gero McLaughlin while female religious congregations will be visited by Sr Sharon Holland of the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and Sr Máirín McDonagh of the Religious of Jesus and Mary.

In his letter to the people of Armagh last November announcing January 9 as the date on which the visitation would begin, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor said his main responsibility in the first phase would be to listen. 

“I am making myself available to meet and listen to people who may wish to see me and, most especially, anyone who has been a victim of clerical abuse, and their families”, he said.

He asked any survivor of abuse or members of their family who wished to meet with him to contact Aileen Oates, member of the Safeguarding Committee.

He said he was also anxious to listen to priests, religious and lay people of the Archdiocese.

“This Visitation will, I hope, build on what has already been accomplished with regard to the safeguarding of children and, I pray, be experienced as a real mark of the Holy Father’s pastoral care and outreach to all the people of Ireland,” he said. 

SIC: CIN/IE