Members of an NI
survivors group have expressed their disappointment after a party of
senior Catholic churchmen from the Vatican completed a series of
meetings across Ireland, in the wake of the sex abuse scandal.
The trip to Ireland, known as an "apostolic
visitation, was announced by Pope Benedict last year, following the
publication of reports into abuse in Catholic institutions.
Led by
retired archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the
six visitors held meetings in the archdioceses of Armagh, Cashel, Dublin
and Tuam, aimed at helping the victims of abuse and ensuring it doesn't
happen again.
They met a group of clerical abuse survivors from Northern Ireland in January.
Margaret
McGuckin, who was abused at the Nazareth Sisters orphanage in Belfast,
said survivors are "sorely disappointed by the lack of any outcomes"
following the meeting.
In a statement released on Monday, the
Catholic Church said the Visitation proved "very useful, thanks to the
cooperation of everyone who took part in this initiative."
Visitators
set out to examine "the effectiveness of the present processes used in
responding to cases of abuse" and "the current forms of assistance
provided to the victims".
They say no further Visitations are necessary, but "visits in loco to some religious communities will follow".
The
statement added: "The Visitators have been able to arrive at a
sufficiently complete picture of the situation of the Irish Church with
respect to the areas under investigation."
The Vatican will publish an overall report in 2012 to include the Visitation results.
"That
means nothing and offers nothing to the Victims of Child Abuse on both
sides of the border," Ms McGuckin said, on behalf of the Survivors and
Victims of Institutional Abuse in Northern Ireland.
"Sadly, it
seems clear that the Catholic Church is institutionally incapable of
responding to the child abuse crisis, that is why Victims in Northern
Ireland now look to the Northern Ireland Executive to establish an
Independent Public inquiry into child abuse in both Church and State run
institutions."