Pope summons bishops over abuse report

[Art321]

Rome, Italy (CNN) – The pope has summoned several Irish bishops to the Vatican to discuss a report documenting child abuse by Irish clergy members, the Vatican spokesman said Wednesday.

The bishops will meet with Pope Benedict XVI in mid-February, said Father Federico Lombardi, the spokesman.

The report, which came out in November, found that the Catholic Church in Ireland covered up “widespread” child abuse from 1975 to 2004.

The pope already has met with senior Irish bishops about the report, produced by the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation. The Irish government created the commission in 2006 to examine abuse allegations

The pope said after that meeting that he was “deeply disturbed and distressed” by the report’s findings. He promised that the Catholic Church would try to develop strategies to make sure abuses don’t happen again.

“He wishes once more to express his profound regret at the actions of some members of the clergy who have betrayed their solemn promises to God, as well as the trust placed in them by the victims and their families, and by society at large,” the Vatican said in a statement then.

Read more at: edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/01/20/ireland.pope.abuse/

 

[Crumpy]

It seems that this news reduces the Pope’s options in Ireland.

I don’t know what the Protestant/Catholic ratio is in Ireland. How is this affecting the Church there, overall?

A couple bishops have resigned. How does the Vatican handle that? Who do they appoint? Irish priests to be bishops? or, bring in somebody from the outside? Would they be accepted / make things better or worse?

 

[NPC]

It seems that this news reduces the Pope’s options in Ireland.

In what way?

I don’t know what the Protestant/Catholic ratio is in Ireland. How is this affecting the Church there, overall?

I’m not sure of the most recent census figures off hand, but I think somewhere in the region of 85% of people have identified themselves as Catholic. Protestant groups would make up a large portion of the remainder, I imagine somewhere between 5-10%.

How is it affecting the Church? Everyone is understandably angry - but some are using the anger in different ways. As far as I have seen, Mass attendance is as it was before the report was released - indeed, most churches saw bigger congregations than previous years over Christmas. I think that for those who wanted an excuse to leave the Church, the report has been the perfect excuse - understandable to a point. The majority who continue to go to Mass, while they don’t deny the facts, know that some in the Church have committed the most heinous crimes, but their individual priests are doing great work and deserve their support. Of course, we still have calls for resignations of some bishops - my own bishop was criticised because he warned that some people could work us into a “spiral of revenge” rather than real justice - unfortunately, I think his prediction is coming to pass. There’s no doubt in my mind that there is scapegoating going on.

As for the Protestant groups - I don’t really know much about what’s happening to them in the wake of the Murphy Report. However, there is a Protestant group - the name escapes me - which is calling for investigations into abuse in Protestant institutions. Not that anything should get the Catholic Church “off the hook”, but I think we do need to remember that, in the wider context, there are hundreds of thousands of children in Ireland who have suffered abuse who probably will never get any recognition from a commission of enquiry.

A couple bishops have resigned. How does the Vatican handle that? Who do they appoint? Irish priests to be bishops? or, bring in somebody from the outside? Would they be accepted / make things better or worse?

I think that only one resignation has been accepted thus far - that of Bishop Murray of Limerick. The Holy Father certainly has not accepted the resignation of the two auxiliary bishops, Bishops Walsh and Field. I don’t think he has accepted the resignation of Bishop Moriarty of Kildare & Leighlin. These are all bishops mentioned in the report. However, two other Irish bishops turned 75 this month, so they have submitted their resignations to the Vatican - Bishop Walsh of Killaloe and Bishop O’Reilly of Ardagh & Clonmacnois.

As to who they will appoint. It seems unlikely that the two auxiliary bishops of Dublin will be replaced - Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has sought to reduce the number of auxiliaries since he was appointed. He had one of his auxiliaries, Dr Martin Drennan, appointed as bishop of Galway in 2005 - he was not replaced. Last year, another auxiliary resigned on age grounds, Dr Fiachra O’Ceallaigh - he was not replaced by another bishop, but with an “Episcopal Vicar”, who is a parish priest with basically the duties of an auxiliary bishop.

Indeed, the Holy Father may not accept the resignations of Bishops Walsh and Field - I know it’s unlikely, but it is my feeling that their fate will not be decided until they meet with Pope Benedict.

I think the best, and most likely appointments will be Irish priests. Given that the moral authority of the Church in Ireland is in question among some people, the people would be most likely to warm to “one of their own”. I just remember when the last bishop of my diocese was appointed - Bishop James McLoughlin (he retired in 2005 and died later that year) - he replaced Bishop Eamon Casey, who fled the diocese in disgrace. Bishop McLoughlin had been parish priest in the cathedral, and he grew up only a few minutes’ walk from the cathedral - he knew Galway and its people. I think that was a crucial factor in the peoples’ warmth towards him.

There is already speculation, regarding a new bishop for Limerick, that Bishop John Fleming of Killala might be appointed - it would be seen as a promotion for him, but he is originally from Limerick himself.

Whatever happens - even in the case of the bishops who are only retiring on age grounds - the Pope will be choosing very wisely; he may take several months to decide. Many of our bishops - and I think it was a great weakness - had little or no pastoral experience; they were academic “high flyers”. In fact the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, had only worked for one year in a parish as curate after ordination - after that he was studying, and in various diplomatic roles…Then he was thrown into the mess which is the Archdiocese of Dublin. It will be good to have some “high flyers” & academics as bishops, but above all, they must be holy men - humility and orthodoxy should be the order of the day. They must be able to identify with the ordinary people of the diocese - so many in the past had no concept of life outside the bishop’s palace.

By the way, there is a similar thread & newspiece HERE