Ierland: Diarmuid Martin I often feel that he Archdiocese of Dublin will turn out to be the most investigated diocese in the world

04/06/2010 Newman Society, Oxford University
“THERE ARE MANY YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE STRUGGLING TO FIND A REASON TO REMAIN IN THE CHURCH”
Speaking Notes ofMost Rev. Diarmuid Martin
Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland
---------
Newman Society, Oxford, 4th June 2010

Speaking Notes ofArchbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland

The title that I have chosen for my reflections this evening – There are many young people who are struggling to find a reason to remain in the Church” – may seem slightly puzzling to some of you. Let me explain its origin. It is a line taken from the comment of the Parish Pastoral Council of one Dublin parish sent to me in the light of the publication of the Murphy Report into the sexual abuse of children by priests within the Archdiocese of Dublin.


The Murphy Report was a very significant examination of how allegations of sexual abuse by priests were managed by Church and State authorities in Ireland. The Report was the fruit of a Government instituted Commission which was established to examine a representative sample of how abuse cases were managed in the period of time between 1975 and 2004.


The findings of the Murphy Report were disastrous. Certainly much of what was dealt with took place in different times and in a different culture. Medical science and juridical reflection may have underestimated the damage done to children who were sexually abused. But what the Murphy Report narrated was nonetheless catastrophic. I have repeated on numerous occasions that for me the only honest reaction of the Church to that Report was to publicly admit that the manner in which that catastrophe was addressed was spectacularly wrong; spectacularly wrong “full stop”; not spectacularly wrong, “but…” You cannot sound-byte your way out of a catastrophe.


The cultural situation was different; abuse takes place in many other sectors of society. This is all true. But it cannot be used as an excuse to down-play the gravity of what took place in the Church of Christ. The Church is different; the Church is a place where children should be the subject of special protection and care. The Gospel presents children in a special light and reserves some of its most severe language for those who disregard or scandalise children in any way.


It is hard to understand why, in the management by Church authorities of cases of the sexual abuse of children, the children themselves were for many years rarely even taken into the equation. Yes, in the culture of the day children were to be seen and not heard, but different from other professions Church leaders should have been more aware of the Gospel imperative to avoid harm to children, whose innocence was indicated by the Lord a sign of the kingdom of God. Where innocent children are failed, the Kingdom of God and the message of Jesus Christ have been distorted.

complete verhaal