Abuse victims praise [Archbishop] Martin speech

[Yellow_Belle]

Survivors of clerical abuse have praised Archbishop Diarmuid Martin for his courage in speaking out against elements within the Catholic Church that would prefer scandals about paedophile priests kept secret.

Survivors said Dr Martin had found his voice again as he revealed he had been disheartened and discouraged by the level of willingness in the church towards renewal.

In an address on the future of the Catholic Church in Ireland to the Knights of Columbanus in Dublin last night, the Archbishop said the damming Murphy report on abuse in his diocese was catastrophic and warned against any slippage in the protection of children.

Abuse survivor Marie Collins said he had been courageous to tell the truth. “It’s good that we have one man in the hierarchy who is willing to speak out and be courageous in this way,” said Ms Collins.

ARTICLE

FULL TEXT OF DR MARTIN’S SPEECH

 

[ncjohn]

Wow, someone who actually “gets it”!

I’m praying that the momentum will continue to grow with those who refuse to continue the “coverup, deny and deflect” game and that the Church will finally take responsibility and stop re-victimizing those who have already had so much taken from them.

Thank you for posting this word of encouragement.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

It is important that justice be done. And sadly it does appear that there have been some in the Church (bishops) who really did cover up (as we understand it today) and for ignoble reasons.

However we really need to guard against a pendulum swing that would make any decision by a bishop at any time line (from AD 33 to AD 2010) that we currently view as being a ‘cover up’ and ‘retroactively’ assign the sentiments, knowledge etc. of AD 2010 to those decisions–especially when the bishop involved has died since.

For example, in my former diocese (Burlington VT) there were cases of abuse under Bishop John Marshall. Bishop Marshall died in the 1990s. There is absolutely no way that we can now know exactly what Bishop Marshall’s understanding was, what his ‘motives’ were, if he could have or would have done something had he lived longer to ‘change’ his decision, etc. etc.

So claims that Bishop Marshall ‘covered up’ cannot be truly assessed. We do not know the reasons. We cannot say whether it was ‘meant’ to be ‘covered up’ in the sense that the word is used today, or whether the Bishop understood it (as indeed in the 1970s and 1980s most if not all institutions, not only the Church) understood such actions to be in the best interest of the victim as well as the accused.)

In fact, the use of the term ‘coverup’ is a good example of something that has grown to represent a labeling of being done for vicious reasons and in the face of full knowledge. . .

Whereas all one really can say about, for example, Bishop Marshall’s decisions on a particular priest is that he did not ‘notify’ the new parish of the priest’s problematic past.

That is **not necessarily a coverup as we understand ‘coverup’. **

However, lest you think I’m advocating a blanket ‘amnesty’–I’m not. There are (and the resignations of late have proven it) examples where the bishops are alive to ‘give’ a reason, where the reason was a true’ coverup, and where indeed these wrong actions should be dealt with in a **just manner. **

 

[Non_Serviam]

A cause for concern:

Why am I discouraged? The most obvious reason is the drip-by-drip never-ending revelation about child sexual abuse and the disastrous way it was handled. There are still strong forces which would prefer that the truth did not emerge. The truth will make us free, even when that truth is uncomfortable. There are signs of subconscious denial on the part of many about the extent of the abuse which occurred within the Church of Jesus Christ in Ireland and how it was covered up. There are other signs of rejection of a sense of responsibility for what had happened. There are worrying signs that despite solid regulations and norms these are not being followed with the rigour required.

And a cause for optimism:

One of the initiatives in which I place much trust in the pastoral programme of the Archdiocese of Dublin is the distribution this year of the Gospel of Saint Luke throughout the Archdiocese. I have said that I should really have charged one cent for each copy and then I would have been able to say that the Gospel had been sold and it might, therefore be at the top of the bestsellers list in Ireland this year. We have distributed 250,000 copies of the Gospel and we are backing the distribution up with e-mail support material month by month. It is one of the most widely circulated publications in Ireland this year. Even if only one in ten copies were read, it would still be on the best sellers list.

I believe that the encounter with the Jesus of the Gospel of Saint Luke could an important answer in the process of healing which is needed by people who in the past encountered the Church as an insensitive, arrogant and dominating institution. I would appeal especially to those who say that they are disillusioned by the Catholic Church in Ireland as an institution but say also they still wish to share the message of Jesus, to take up the scriptures. They will not find the authentic message of Jesus simply on the talk shows. Faith requires nourishment. You cannot allow it simply to drift.

An excellent response by the Archbishop.