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Archbishop of Dublin shocked at survey into public reaction to clerical sex abuse

Report says respondents believe one in five priests guilty of abuse

By
CATHAL DERVAN,
IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Sunday, November 13, 2011, 8:55 AM
Updated Sunday, November 13, 2011, 9:27 AM

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See more: Irish Catholic Church  

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin holds a copy of the report on the Dublin Archdiocese's mishandling of abuse complaints against its parish priests from 1975 to 2004 as he arrives for a press conference in Dublin, Ireland, (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS


The Archbishop of Dublin has expressed his dismay at the findings of a recent survey which claimed that most Irish people believe one in every five priests is guilty of child sex abuse.

The report, reported by Irish Central, claimed that almost half of those surveyed believe child abuse is rife within the clergy.

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Reacting to the poll, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said: “I am saddened and horrified to see the results of a recent survey which showed how misled people have been about the extent of abuse by priests.

“Some of those questioned for the survey imagined that over 20 percent of priests had abused.

“The horror we all experience at the dreadful reality of abuse in no way justifies such injustice to the entire body of priests in this diocese and in this country.”

​
See more: Irish Catholic Church , Sexual Abuse , Catholic Priest
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25 Comments

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KatieMurphy | Mar 12, 2012, 01:32 AM EDT
let the church rant and rave. its filled with lonely, unfullfilled men who couldnt afford prostitutes so their took out their natural law desires on the handiest and easiest to terrorize into submission and quiet - the alter boys.................And why were there much fewer 21% of the victims of the umarried preists girls???? .... because until recently the church didnt have alter girls.

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stephen1553 | Dec 20, 2011, 06:35 PM EST
Hee's shsocked - well, when you have someone who thinks they are GOD ( the real issue in the catholic hierarchy), they simply cannot immagine that anything they do is wrong. That is the basic problem, we all need to dwell on it I've read that a cardinals set of clothes cost about $30,000. Thats just another part of the problem, they remind me of the Iranian Peacock throne monster the Shah of Iran, whose whole jacket was almost fully covered with medals. Virtually all of which should have been stuffed up his backside. Jesus went around in rags. So should the hierarchy, including the pope. Break down the military type hierarchy. Isnt it time that the religious emperors be seen as wearing no clothes ?

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veryluckyone | Nov 15, 2011, 01:58 PM EST
HE's shocked. What did he expect?

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turzovka | Nov 15, 2011, 10:59 AM EST
was my comment (an hour ago) too lengthy or unacceptable? thanks.

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gobdawpaddy | Nov 15, 2011, 07:16 AM EST
I was an altar boy for many years as a young boy. I was involved with the scouts (CBSI) which involved regular contact with local priests. I was also in Catholic school for my entire pre-college schooling. During all these years and contact with priests, I never so much as heard a rumour of misconduct by any of them. I realize there are a lot of bad apples out there, who did some very sick things, but there are also some very decent, dedicated men who are priests and I feel sorry for those people.

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helmet365 | Nov 14, 2011, 05:27 PM EST
celicfour, If it were not for the Church hundreds of thousands of innocent africans would not have died agonising deaths from aids because of the Church's obsession with sin (a man made control thing) and preventing contraception use. Like most Catholic doctrine this will change for fear of mass walkouts which are happening now. Spare a thought for the innocents because the Catholic church won't.

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Collette2 | Nov 14, 2011, 04:46 AM EST
celicfour, I don't know what part of the country you hail from but you certainly underestimate and offend the common decency of the majority of society, catholic or not.

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cantwaittogo | Nov 13, 2011, 11:14 PM EST
Posted by celticfour on Nov 13, 2011, 10:53 AM EST "Even if [I'd never concede that this is true] one in five were guilty.What about the other 80%? Half of them are doing good work. The other half are living saints and the press is torturing them." If you consider alcoholism to be "doing good work" , then yes, about 40% of them are "doing good work". "The other half are living saints"-I had no idea that maintaining celibacy (as they vowed to do when they voluntarily joined up)and sobriety, qualifies one for sainthood- becasue I've seen very few of them do much more than that.

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celticfour | Nov 13, 2011, 09:49 PM EST
You are always using the 10 worst or 10 best as headlines. Have a 10 best Irish priests list. What did the Irish church do to you or your parents?

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celticfour | Nov 13, 2011, 09:43 PM EST
If it were not for the Church, Irish society would not even consider pedophilia a sin. If it were not for the Church most of the 'bitchers' on here could not read or write. I have my faults but I can look at a situation honestly

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Woodman | Nov 13, 2011, 07:42 PM EST
Every time the media reports a Jihad warrior does suicide bombing, we are told Islam is a religion of peace and most practitioners don't support that. But based on the reporting I guess all the Irish are guilty of homosexual pedophilia or covering it up.

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CaptainCon | Nov 13, 2011, 02:57 PM EST
Catholic Church's own fault. If it had done the right thing instead of trying to shrug off the whole scandal it would have cleaned its house by now. The church is ethically strangling itself. Good riddance.

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Springfield9 | Nov 13, 2011, 02:44 PM EST
Give 1000 inspired homilies and no one remembers .... but bugger one boy and the Earth moves.

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canadianirish | Nov 13, 2011, 02:41 PM EST
One in every five? More like one in two.

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IAPRINCESS | Nov 13, 2011, 01:59 PM EST
Amazing how one bad apple can spread such havoc. But, oh, it was more than one!!!

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