I posted earlier on the Murphy Report, an investigation of sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy in the Archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland. Dozens of posts following this report are available over at Clerical Whispers. (Far too many posts to link to individually here: go to CW and scroll down over the last several weeks.)
H/T to Rocco for linking us to the statement (excerpt below) from the Winter Meeting of the Irish Bishops' Conference.
On the one hand, there's a frankness here which many still seek from American bishops on the same issue. On the other hand, no matter how frank the statement, words pale in the face of the tragedy, the harm done, and the fear that in some places some of the structures that allowed for such a cover-up remain in place.
As you read the following, keep in mind that only the Archdiocese of Dublin and not other dioceses in Ireland are the subject of the Murphy Report.
The Winter General Meeting of the Irish Bishops’ Conference takes place today and tomorrow, 9 and 10 December 2009, in Maynooth. At the end of the first day, Bishops published the following statement:
-ConcordPastorWe, as bishops, apologise to all those who were abused by priests as schildren, their families and to all people who feel rightly outraged and let down by the failure of moral leadership and accountability that emerges from the Report.
The normal business of the General Meeting was suspended. Bishops gave their full attention today to the Commission of Investigation Report into the Archdiocese of Dublin which was published on 26 November last. Bishops said:
We, as bishops, apologise to all those who were abused by priests as children, their families and to all people who feel rightly outraged and let down by the failure of moral leadership and accountability that emerges from the Report...
We are deeply shocked by the scale and depravity of abuse as described in the Report. We are shamed by the extent to which child sexual abuse was covered up in the Archdiocese of Dublin and recognise that this indicates a culture that was widespread in the Church. The avoidance of scandal, the preservation of the reputations of individuals and of the Church, took precedence over the safety and welfare of children. This should never have happened and must never be allowed to happen again. We humbly ask for forgiveness.The Report raises very important issues for the Church in Ireland, including the functioning of the Bishops’ Conference, and, how the lay faithful can be more effectively involved in the life of the Church. We will give further detailed consideration to these issues...
Cardinal Seán Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin have been called to the Vatican by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, to enable him “to be briefed and evaluate the painful situation of the Church in Ireland following the recent publication of the Murphy Commission Report.” They will meet with Pope Benedict on Friday.
(Read the complete statement here)
The bishops of Ireland today apologized for sexual abuse revealed in the Murphy Report. Their Lordships should also apologize for Vatican II abuse, which was inflicted on all Irish Catholics, and goes largely hand in hand with the former. The most criticized bishop in the report is the ultra-progressive Archbishop Dermot Ryan (deposed from Clonliffe for teaching modernism by John Chalres McQuaid) who presided over the wholesale vandalism of Church patrimony, beautiful High Altars were "reordered" (invariably wrecked), fiddlebacks were replaced with bland polysters, laypeople were allowed liturgical functions utterly unnatural to their state, the Penny Catechism was replaced with liberal guff, the ancient Latin Liturgy with its High English transliteration was deposed in favour of a bland verbiage in the vulgar tongue. It's no surprise that the Report concluded that "Archbishops Ryan and McNamara do not seem to have ever applied the canon law". All this iconoclastic suicide was part of the postconciliar rebellion and backlash against the supposed 'legalism' of the pre-conciliar Church and its 'oppressive' moral prescriptions. "The Catholic Church" is not to blame for any of this, but we do we have to blame the trendy post-Vatican II bishops for this awful child abuse, so contrary to Pope Pius V who demanded that the child abusers be burned at the stake.
ReplyDeleteThe impact of "the Vatican" on the Irish Church is over-rated. Ever since the Second Vatican Council, the Irish bishops pay only nominal felicity to Rome, and in practice ignore well over 90% of Church rescripts. For example, there are only five parishes in Ireland that offer a weekly Traditional Mass but the Vatican demands that it be celebrated in every parish. Not a single diocese in Ireland has implemented Redemptionis Sacramentum or much else indeed besides. Still even as bad as the postconciliar abusive priests were, it would not be impertinent to point that according to the Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland (SAVI) report of 2002, around 320,000 people were raped in childhood, about 4 per cent of child rapes have been perpetrated by the clergy.
The Dublin Report did not conclude that Canon Law impeded the prosecution of clerics, indeed it was never even applied. As Chapter 4 of the Report noted, after Vatican II there was a “collapse of respect for canon law [CIC] in archdiocesan circles … offenders were neither prosecuted nor made accountable within the church”. The 1917 CIC “decreed deprivation of office and/or benefice, or expulsion from the clerical state for such offences”. A bishop who heard of an abuse allegation was canonically required to investigate it, and expel the priest from the priesthood if found guilty in a canonical trial (which was to happen parallel and independently of a civil prosection). The anti-'legalistic' mindset after the Second Vatican Council lead the post-conciliar Archbishops to ignore the CIC and only two canonical trials ever took place in the period under reivew (both were in the 1990s) and in spite of severe opposition from Monsignor Sheehy, the archdiocesan “expert” in canon law and ultra-liberal, who “considered that the penal aspects of that law should rarely be invoked”.
Veteran commentator/journalist/economist Joe Foyle made an interesting observation on the Studies blog about Diarmuid Martin’s remarks on Prime Time about the collapse of diocesan severity in the 1960s:
"It seems that around the 1960s a major policy change emerged. In line with the secular anti-punishment mood of the times, it was decided that the defrocking sanction was inhumane and that, instead, rehabilitation should be attempted to enable offenders to continue to work as priests. The policy change backfired when offenders re-offended. That hurt children and blighted lives gravely, cost Dioceses and Congregations hundreds of millions, evoked ‘cover-up’ allegations that undermined Bishops and the priesthood in general, and ushered in our current era of Catholic laity who are effectively priestless."
Yes, and let's blame acid rain and coqui infestation on Vatican II. Keep in mind, Shane, that the unforgivable sin is to attribute evil to God, the Holy Spirit. Trads, by decrying this ecumentical Council as evil, risk the unthinkable. If you don't want to be a Catholic, then don't be, but this is about the REAL victims --it's not about Trads.
ReplyDeleteSimmer down, everyone!
ReplyDeleteI published Shane's comment because out there in the blogosphere, it's not an unusual one.
And I answered Shane's comment because I've been a Catholic through thick and thin for 57 years, and because having been online for 10 years, I have no choice but to conclude that Jack Chick is kinder to Catholicism than are Trads. I also know for a fact that this stuff doesn't help victims. What helps is giving them back a Church they can trust not only to protect them, but to love them. We US parishioners never did a wrong thing to victims, but we are mandatorily being *educated* about sexual abuse and are being fingerprinted now, if we still want to work with youth. And we do.
ReplyDeleteHere's a sussing of the Murphy Report from someone who seems objective.
Little is gained by grouping people under one name and assuming they all think alike. In fact, we call that prejudice. Not all "Trads" think alike, even if many of them think one way. Not all of "anyones" think alike, even if many of them think or fail to think in one particular way.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Lighborrower, but it might be good to think again about statements like, "We US parishioners never did a wrong thing to victims..." In fact, the families and friends of some, perhaps even many victims refused to believe the claims of the abused because "Father would never do something like that!" No, I'm not blaming all families and friends but just pointing out that blanket statements are generally not true.
"blanket statements are generally not true" Indeed.
ReplyDeleteMay that ring out for all the faithful.
Lightborrower: Agreed!
ReplyDeleteI do not believe anything I read on Clerical Whispers since I discovered the man behind is it not a real priest.
ReplyDeletehttp://thetruthaboutsottovoce@blogspot.com
You may have noticed that I removed Clerical Whispers from my sidebar some months ago and no longer use it as a source for my posts.
ReplyDelete