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Archbishop of Dublin is ashamed of Vatican’s clerical sex abuse cover up

Hopes Irish clergy will be taught a lesson

DARA KELLY,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Friday, July 22, 2011, 7:54 AM

Updated Friday, July 22, 2011, 9:48 AM

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Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin

In a sign of growing divisions within the Irish Catholic Church, Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin told the press this week that he was 'angry, ashamed and appalled' by the actions of his fellow Irish churchmen following a damning report into child abuse in the diocese of Cloyne in County Cork.

Martin's comments came days after a historically unprecedented attack on the Vatican by Irish prime minister Enda Kenny, who bluntly accused the Roman Catholic hierarchy of violating the country’s sovereignty by attempting to frustrate the inquiry.

Kenny told the Irish parliament that the Cloyne report revealed that the Vatican was dominated by a culture of 'dysfunction, disconnection, elitism and narcissism.'

'The rape and torture of children were downplayed or 'managed' to uphold instead, the primacy of the institution, its power, standing and 'reputation',' Kenny said.

'For the first time in Ireland, a report into child sexual abuse exposes an attempt by the Holy See to frustrate an inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic as little as three years ago, not three decades ago,' Kenny added.

Archbishop Martin, who sounded close to tears speaking to Ireland's national broadcaster RTE, said he hoped the prime minister's blunt language would teach his fellow churchmen a 'lesson.'
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'I find myself asking today, can I be proud of the Church that I'm a leader of?, Martin said. 'What I'm seeing – I have to be ashamed of this, and I have to be ashamed because of what was done to the victims and what was done to other people.'

Martin then called on the Vatican to announce its full support for the mandatory reporting of abuse allegations to the state authorities.

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Collette2 | Jul 23, 2011, 09:13 AM EDT

As things are BS, you're dead right, he certainly would.

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BishopSean | Jul 22, 2011, 09:28 PM EDT

I think Archbishop Martin would make a great pope.

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cillowen | Jul 22, 2011, 08:14 PM EDT

irish has their henry viii's enda time. going back to monastic style religion will confuse the blow-in as the blow-outs head out. little china little africa little you name 'em, remaining. Amer repugs are all about service to their oligarchical masters - did you see how O'Reilly went beserk in defense of his Hackdoc maven. No taxing of the wealthy allowed but taka aways from the folks who stick with america through thick and thin. You wont find them hiding their loot offshore like U2 and the many irish do-gooder phonies. The plutocracy will place another tweedle dee into the breach - thus ensuring obama is a one timer - and so this democracy con goes on.

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DannyBoyG | Jul 22, 2011, 06:39 PM EDT

Archbishop Martin is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Ireland and for the RC Church. They best take advantage of someone who sees how it really is and at the same time more importantly really cares. the Church itself has NONE of that!!

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lmulligan | Jul 22, 2011, 05:24 PM EDT

Strange as it may seem, I suggest to my Irish friends that you look to China as a possible model as you consider the needed changes in your relationship to the church. In China, the government names the bishops and, for the most part, Rome goes along w/ it. This model has been around a long time, & in church history, as I recall, it is the focus of the "investiture" controversy.

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rainbowbrew | Jul 22, 2011, 04:51 PM EDT

You know the catholics hate the mormons and say they are non-christian. either Mormon I meet is a better person than these catholics. So if they can be good people why can not the catholics? becasue their models are bad people so being bad is OK.

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rainbowbrew | Jul 22, 2011, 04:49 PM EDT

The problem is they all lie and you have no idea if this guy is a protector or really being honest. I find that with the cloak of secrecy in the catholic church you can not trust any of them.

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KathyCallahan | Jul 22, 2011, 01:32 PM EDT

McNamara you make crystal clear _ we are all bit players in a real life reenactment of what reads like a tragic Eugene O'Neillesque play. Draw the curtains, turn up the houselights and see it for what it is in it's entirety. It's no holy church. I was in Boston attending church of the faithful meetings as church leaders were banishing and black listing priests who spoke up. nOT MY IDEA AT ALL OF IRISH CATHOLIC VALUES -nOT HOW WE TREAT CHILDREN, PEOPLE, VICTIMS, CRIME VICTIMS ANYWHERE. -tHERE iRISH cATHOLIC CHURCH MISSIVES, BELATED APOLOGIES AND MINIMIZING AND PATENTLY DENYING THEIR COMPLICIT BEHAVIOR -HAS NO PLACE IN ANY ESTABLISHED RESPECTABLE CHURCH. I hope Enda Kenny and Diarmuid Martin do what needs to be done and swiftly. Middle ground finding middle ground with these people and breaking bread together in holy settings is a farce that we must not enable and participate in...We render our selves laUGHING STOCKS. wE are much better than that -so many suffer from being hypnotized and betrayed: it's hard to face that for what it is...take responsibility -'we are not in kansas anymore' Never was

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CitizenWhy | Jul 22, 2011, 11:05 AM EDT

Yes, and the Vatican is ashamed of the Archbishop of Dublin right back. He is not playing the corporate game of "to get along, go along." This is a grave sin at the Vatican, in all its worldly wisdom.

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McNamara31 | Jul 22, 2011, 10:46 AM EDT

The Irish people have to draw the wagons around Bishop Martin who is speaking the truth to the Vatican before he is silenced or exiled for speaking that truth. On Long Island after the 2002 abuse scandal in Boston every good priest who spoke out was quietly removed from view as they were then assigned Cardinal Laws second in command as their new Bishop. What other group would assign someone who was second in command in a diocese with the largest abuse scandal on record (prior to Ireland’s) to a position of such prominence? This is why other good priests are so afraid to speak out.

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KathyCallahan | Jul 22, 2011, 10:34 AM EDT

Enda Kenny And Diarmuid Martin should work together to make a clean break from vatican -nothing short of transformational to create the first Free Standing Irish Catholic Church -Taking the best of the Irish people's faith, good deeds and belief in god, jesus, angels and the saints -ever after. That all belongs to a much higher power than political, manipulative, unlawful Men of the vatican.

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