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09/02/2010
Abuse Victims Write To Pope
Surviving victims of clerical sexual abuse have written an open letter to Pope Benedict XVI regarding the Ryan and Murphy Report revelations.
The letter from victims group One in Four, and signed by abuse survivors Marie Collins, Maeve Lewis and Andrew Madden, comes just as Irish bishops prepare to meet the Pontiff in the Vatican next week.
The letter contains a number of severe criticisms, including that the group had found it incomprehensible the Vatican and the Papal Nuncio had hidden behind diplomatic protocols to avoid cooperating with the Murphy Commission.
The Papal Nuncio – who is the Vatican's representative in Ireland - had rejected accusations of non-cooperation with the Murphy investigations by claiming that information requests had been responded to through diplomatic channels.
The letter said: "The distress, anger and frustration experienced by survivors since the publication of the Report of the Commission of Investigation into Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin (the Murphy Report) is enormous. Many who have suffered throughout their lives from the impact of sexual abuse by priests in childhood now realise, having read the Report, that their pain and suffering could have been avoided if senior churchmen and the civil authorities had acted properly in response to complaints received from earlier victims.
"Survivors find in incomprehensible that the Vatican and your representative in Ireland, the Papal Nuncio, saw fit to hide behind diplomatic protocols to avoid co-operating with the Murphy Commission."
Yesterday, representatives of the bishops met leaders of four survivors' groups as part of ongoing consultations and said they would relay the survivors' concerns to the Pope.
The letter also called for the Pope to instruct Irish bishops to comply fully with child protection guidelines, including the mandatory reporting of all concerns or complaints to authorities.
The letter went on to urged the Pope to remove Bishop Martin Drennan who, they say, still refuses to accept any responsibility for his part in supporting a culture of cover-up during his time in the Dublin Archdiocese.
Separately, it has been reported that survivors will also ask the Pope for a €1bn compensation package, and request a meeting during his visit to England in September.
(DW/BMcC)
The letter from victims group One in Four, and signed by abuse survivors Marie Collins, Maeve Lewis and Andrew Madden, comes just as Irish bishops prepare to meet the Pontiff in the Vatican next week.
The letter contains a number of severe criticisms, including that the group had found it incomprehensible the Vatican and the Papal Nuncio had hidden behind diplomatic protocols to avoid cooperating with the Murphy Commission.
The Papal Nuncio – who is the Vatican's representative in Ireland - had rejected accusations of non-cooperation with the Murphy investigations by claiming that information requests had been responded to through diplomatic channels.
The letter said: "The distress, anger and frustration experienced by survivors since the publication of the Report of the Commission of Investigation into Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin (the Murphy Report) is enormous. Many who have suffered throughout their lives from the impact of sexual abuse by priests in childhood now realise, having read the Report, that their pain and suffering could have been avoided if senior churchmen and the civil authorities had acted properly in response to complaints received from earlier victims.
"Survivors find in incomprehensible that the Vatican and your representative in Ireland, the Papal Nuncio, saw fit to hide behind diplomatic protocols to avoid co-operating with the Murphy Commission."
Yesterday, representatives of the bishops met leaders of four survivors' groups as part of ongoing consultations and said they would relay the survivors' concerns to the Pope.
The letter also called for the Pope to instruct Irish bishops to comply fully with child protection guidelines, including the mandatory reporting of all concerns or complaints to authorities.
The letter went on to urged the Pope to remove Bishop Martin Drennan who, they say, still refuses to accept any responsibility for his part in supporting a culture of cover-up during his time in the Dublin Archdiocese.
Separately, it has been reported that survivors will also ask the Pope for a €1bn compensation package, and request a meeting during his visit to England in September.
(DW/BMcC)
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