Irish abuse survivors group seek $1.4 billion from Vatican [CN-USA]

[Catholic_Press]

Groups representing Irish survivors of clerical sex abuse are seeeking one billion euros ($1.4 billion) compensation from the Vatican for victims.

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[NPC]

I am very dismayed, though not surprised unfortunately, that the abuse survivors and representatives who wrote an open letter to Pope Benedict (HERE) continue to equate “taking responsibility” to resigning. The Bishop of Galway apparently has not accepted any responsibility apparently because he has not resigned like the four other bishops.

It is very sad for me to say, when I think of the ongoing suffering of survivors of abuse, that this letter seriously causes me to question their motives and their vision of justice. Why?

1. They say in the letter that “Bishops Donal Murray, James Moriarty, Eamon Walsh, Raymond Field and Martin Drennan were all bishops in the Archdiocese of Dublin during some of the period investigated by the Commission”. The fifth of these bishops, Martin Drennan should, according to them, be forced to resign as an act of "collective responsibility. But are they really looking for “collective responsibility”? If they were, it seems to me, they would also be calling for the resignation of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin as he too served in the Archdiocese for at least 18 months of the period of investigation. I have tried unsuccessfully to raise this point with the media, but I have not heard one other person bring this anomaly to light. Of course, Diarmuid Martin is perceived to have acted well, but one can’t call for collective responsibility and then not ensure that it applies to all. So what exactly are they looking for - justice or an illusion of justice (commonly known as scapegoating)?
2. Another glaring anomaly is the fact that no victims groups have insisted to the Vatican or anyone in authority that Desmond Cardinal Connell be compelled to clarify issues relating to the role of auxiliary bishops. In fact, he’s not even being summoned to Rome with the other bishops. He was Archbishop of Dublin for over fifteen years - right through the 1990’s and into the present century - and as such, he is the only person who can really clarify what exactly the auxiliaries knew or didn’t know. As he resigned on age grounds some years ago, he obviously can’t take responsibility by resigning, but maybe he could do something else…I just think that on the quest for truth, he should have been the first port of call on the survivors’ list. Do they not want him to clarify things? Perhaps to do so would strengthen the position of the bishops they have forced to resign?

As to the compensation that they are reportedly seeking, I don’t know whether or not it is excessive in the scale of things. However, my question would be “where will it end?” No amount of money is going to replace the lost childhoods or those who have taken their own lives because of the trauma of abuse - we have to be confident that whatever deal is reached, financial or otherwise, it should be geared towards ensuring the closure that we all desire to this painful and shameful chapter of our history.

 

[Catholic29]

How could the Vatican raise this kind of cash short of auctioning off the Sistine Chapel or Saint Peter’s Basilica?