Look to your consciences over abuse, Archbishop tells clergy

Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin

29/11/2009 - 15:17:27
The head of the Catholic Church in Dublin today told bishops implicated in a sickening report into child sex abuse to look in to their consciences.

Diarmuid Martin said he had no authority to ask anyone to resign over the scandal, but revealed a bishop could be removed if criminal proceedings are brought.

Gardaí are currently studying the disturbing report which found senior clerics - some still in positions in Ireland – shielded paedophile priests when they were based in Dublin.

“I’ve consistently said that anybody who is named for having negative responsibility in the report should examine themselves in the light of what was happening then and in their responsibilities today and what they are doing today,” said the Archbishop told RTE radio.

“The first decision must be theirs.

“That’s the moral thing to do and the noble thing to do if anybody feels they have failed in their duty or if their position is compromised.

“From now on, the Garda investigation will look in a more precise legal terms about responsibility, criminal responsibility, negligence and I believe that’s an important dimension that will develop.”

Archbishop Martin was the first cleric to open secret church files on allegations of sex abuse to investigators.

The Murphy Commission revealed hundreds of accusations had been covered up by senior churchmen over a 30-year period because they were obsessed with secrecy and upholding the reputation of the Church and its assets.

Earlier in his homily at the historic St Andrew’s Church in Dublin, the Archbishop said the damage done to children abused by priests can never be undone.

President Mary McAleese and Lord Mayor of Dublin Emer Costello were among the congregation at the service, which marked the reopening of the church following renovations.

The Archbishop said one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the sad story was while Church leaders failed almost every parent who came to the diocese to report abuse clearly understood the awfulness of what has involved.

“Almost exclusively their primary motivation was to try to ensure that what happened to their child, or in some case to themselves, did not happen to other children,” he continued.

“Their motivation was not about money or revenge. It was quite simply about that most basic human sense of right and wrong and that basic Christian motivation of concern for others.

“To each and every survivor, whether of abuse or of the failure in the responses of Church, I express my apology, my sorrow and my shame for what happened to them. I am aware however that no words of apology will ever be sufficient.”