Bishop Dr John McAreavey has admitted that he has
failed many of his priests and that he has not always had the right
attitude to the victims of clerical sexual abuse.
Asked if his primary response had been to protect the Church
rather than the plight of the victim or survivor of abuse, he said:
"There is no question of that. Yes. A number of times in the past year
friends of mine have quoted back things to me I have said 10 or 15 years
ago that they remember, that I have forgotten. It is no pride to
me that I have made a long and difficult journey. I just didn't see
this whole thing from the perspective of the victims."
Dr
McAreavey made his comments in a frank interview with the Irish Catholic
magazine conducted by Martin O'Brien, a leading Catholic commentator.
It is Dr McAreavey's first public statement since returning from a
seven-month sabbatical which took him to the Holy Land, China, Rome and a period of work as a parish priest in Los Angeles. Part of it was spent in solitary prayer in Israel's Negev desert.
"In a sense the whole sabbatical was a time in the desert, away from the usual supports, routines and friendships," he said.
Since
he got back he has been doing the rounds of all 32 priests in his
diocese to restore relations. He said he had apologised to some of them
for writing letters to them that may have, unintentionally, been
hurtful.
"At times I have written to priests either with a
decision or a reaction to something and at times I have known later it
was the worst thing to have done," he said.
"There have been times
when I have hurt priests. I realised afterwards it would have been far
better and more prudent to have talked and listened more."
He also admits to have "made assumptions" and "acting on information that was not necessarily wrong, but was incomplete".
"Obviously,
where this has happened, I have apologised and I have gone to priests
personally and said: 'Look, I have got that wrong and I am really sorry
to have upset you," he said.
His lengthy sabbatical was unusual in
Ireland, and at the time he said his family had experienced great
sadness and tragedy and he had decided to undertake a period of personal
renewal.
The interview suggests this was related to the unsolved murder of Michaela McAreavey, who was married to his nephew John and was killed on the couple's honeymoon in Mauritius.
He
told Mr O'Brien he had experienced "a demanding year and a degree of
personal strain" relating to the death of Michaela in January 2011 and
to the lengthy illness and subsequent death of his mother in August
2012.
As a result he found his "energy was not what it should be"
and is pleased and grateful that he is "refreshed physically,
emotionally and spiritually".
Mr O'Brien said: "The bishop was
very open and ready to admit fault, something which follows the example
of Pope Francis. I wonder if this is a trend to openness which other
members of the Irish hierarchy will follow."
BACKGROUND
When
Dr John McAreavey, the Catholic Bishop of Dromore, announced that he
was taking sabbatical leave a year ago there was speculation that he
might retire, but he came back to Ireland in September as planned and
has now resumed his duties.
The bishop officiated when his nephew John McAreavey married Michaela Harte
in December 2010.
Just a fortnight later, Bishop McAreavey also
officiated at Michaela's funeral after she was murdered in Mauritius.
Two hotel workers were acquitted of her killing in July last year, less than four months before the bishop took leave.