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Home Page > News > Dramatic scenes as Archbishops wash abuse victim’s feet - SEE POLL

Dramatic scenes as Archbishops wash abuse victim’s feet - SEE POLL

Tears and pleas for forgiveness from prelates in Dublin church

PATRICK ROBERTS,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Monday, February 21, 2011, 7:17 AM

Updated Monday, February 21, 2011, 10:30 AM

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A service of lament and repentance with those who were sexually abused by priests and religious took place at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin yesterday

IrishCentral.com Poll

In dramatic scenes, the archbishops of Dublin and Boston washed and dried the feet of eight victims of clerical abuse on Sunday in a Dublin cathedral.

The archbishops invited five women and three men who were abused to come forward and have their feet washed. Several of them cried as Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston kneeled and washed and dried their feet.

Martin stated he was deeply sorry for what happened in his Dublin archdiocese. A report last year castigated his predecessors for their actions in covering up for pedophile priests.

"For covering up crimes of abuse, and by so doing actually causing the sexual abuse of more children... we ask God's forgiveness," Martin told the congregation.

"The archdiocese of Dublin will never be the same again. It will always bear this wound within it."

"For them to get down on their knees, it was humbling," said Darren McGavin, 39, who was abused as a child.

"I've found it hard to forgive, but today I found a small bit of closure."

O’Malley stated that the washing of the feet was a gesture of atonement that was deeply yearned for by the victims. He had been sent to Ireland by the Vatican to seek to repair the deep chasm in the church over pedophile priests.

“The wounds carried in Ireland as a result of this evil are deep and remind us of the wounds of the body of Christ. We think of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as he experienced his own crisis,” he stated.

“He, too, was overwhelmed with sorrow, betrayed and abandoned. Not only survivors of abuse and their family members, but many of the faithful and clergy throughout Ireland can echo our Lord's plaintive cry, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’

“But today, through the saving power of the cross, we come together to share in each other's sorrows as well as our collective hope for the future.”

"Today was a day of liberation for me," said one of the eight victims, a 63-year-old, who spoke to the Reuters news agency.

"I never thought I'd live to see this day when the church gave full recognition for the horror that was there."

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56 Comments

15 - 56 | See all comments

Scarlettkp | Mar 12, 2011, 11:22 PM EST

The church was extremely abusive to me as an adult. I really believed this is what the Priests should have done for me. Yet they sat there and washed one another's feet. I'm sorry but it's not enough. I'll believe their sorry when I get a phone call and a real apology.. Many in my family died for the church and they can't even be friendly...give me a break!! I was abused by a non-Priest and had terrible PTSD and the Priests treated me like a personal affront to the Priesthood. They should have taken the opportunity to do something positive. Even the parishioners were cruel to me. So others are very much involved. The admini yes- they are involved. I'm glad it's so transparent...the programs to help victims..they are there to just cover up even more dirt. The victims that speak out are thrown out..! I WAS there.

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Bernadett | Mar 08, 2011, 01:31 PM EST

Washing feet,ha ha ,What about there dirty linen??.

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STUMPTOWN | Feb 24, 2011, 10:35 AM EST

And the remark on history, I ask you of Ireland, who was the first person to ask England to invade Ireland? P.S. The good Cardinal O'Malley knows that the courts in the USA do not play games and the damages cost by the law suits are very high compare to Ireland.

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Intercessor | Feb 24, 2011, 07:44 AM EST

Jesus clearly taught, "My kingdom is NOT of this world." He also taught, "The kingdom of God is WITHIN." By the third century when "government" of the Church was taken over by Constantine, who controlled Rome and the Papacy, Rome was made the Earthly Kingdom of God and knowledge of the true Spiritual Kingdom of God went out the window, and "Rules of Men," took over. Unfortunately, the men, who were making the "Rules" for all of us to follow weren't too bright and their spirituality was definitely in question. Today, the world over, we are experiencing the damage that Canon Law, the laws of man, have made. Rulers, whether in the Church or in Government always protect themselves first. Over the last decade the Laity has had their eyes opened by the exposure of generations of coverups. The world has seen how the Irish Hierarchy, as well as the Vatican, has treated the ONLY Archbishop, who has tried to make genuine changes and root out those responsible for generations of spiritual abuse. And what has it gotten him . . . the hate of those he has exposed, right up to the Vatican!

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dingle999 | Feb 24, 2011, 07:05 AM EST

ohmygosh "They ARE trying to repair the damage done, best they can.". Pope John Paul the idiot knew about the problem and yet he did nothing. May he rot in hell Gearoid4 "I would urge those people on further reflection to hang in there as it is in times of crisis that the true mettle of our faith is tested" Yeah I still believe in Santa Claus George Dillon "I think of the thopusands of martyred priests in the Ireland of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, tortured and murdered by England and its agents. " Get your history correct i.e The Catholic Church in the 19th century was on the side of the British govt

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ronnie4u2o | Feb 24, 2011, 01:16 AM EST

I Say send Cardinal O'malley Packing back to the States he can't control the church there & and let the Irish Catholics take control of their Church & not corrupt Rome. Time for a Rebirth of the church!!

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Prevailer | Feb 23, 2011, 05:51 PM EST

That poll is general in the sense that this good man our archbishop is not the church as a whole. He is the representative and is one man. The church needs to defrock the hierarchy that preferred to serve themselves in lieu of protecting its children. They the apostles of Rome need to ask for forgiveness in concert as in a proclamation. Then these shepards must ask for their flock to come back, and if so gain great indulgences toward their spiritual healings. AMEN.

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eiriamach | Feb 23, 2011, 05:27 PM EST

Gearoid4, thanks for the reply. I do not disagree with what you wrote, really, although I think Jacersagain has a good point also about the abuse victims doing the symbolic washing to make the Bishop worthy of standing in the cathedral. Isn't the foot-washing ceremony in the Rule of St. Benedict (I don't have a copy here)? The abbot would wash the feet of pilgrims who'd traveled to the monastery?

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eiriamach | Feb 23, 2011, 05:17 PM EST

Bernadett, I read the speech at dublindiocese[dot]ie, under "Archbishop's talks..." In terms of church structure, he can't imagine any change. There's still the imperial papacy, centered in Rome and calling the tune about training Catholics to be "witnesses to the truth of the gospel" when they deal with political issues. So while he has accepted separation of church and state and loss of Catholic identity of most Irish schools, he seems to think of the laity doing the work of keeping Irish law and policies conforming to Catholic doctrine, just as bishops did in the past. This is not a way of dealing with cultural diversity or instability in economy or politics; it's a way of resisting change. He says, "Reform in the Church is not in the first place about the redistribution of power, but about the redefinition of power in terms of the way in which Jesus revealed who God is." What does this mean? The people seem to be saying--or shouting--that reform must be about redistributing power as well as redefining how the hierarchy exercises power. I think he's trying to be a kind of buffer between a controlling Vatican and the Irish people, who are searching for a way to have God in their lives, and he does not realize that when he tries to reconcile those two things, he ends up defending authority and manipulating the people. His sadness shows. He admits that in Dublin "the presence at Sunday Mass is some 5% of the Catholic population and, in some cases, even below 2%." To keep the church relevant, he needs to rethink from the bottom up, rather than from the top down. He should listen to the 95% who are absent, who are not resistant to change as he believes, but more able to envision change than he is.

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sirpeter | Feb 23, 2011, 01:59 PM EST

@Mavaureen..Is that a trick question? Sounds very loaded to me..You wouldn't be trying to lead me into some trap would you? ;)

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Mavaureen | Feb 23, 2011, 12:10 PM EST

@sirpeter I'm just awondering...are you a clergyman or a lawyer?

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Bernadett | Feb 23, 2011, 09:45 AM EST

Archbishop Martin, has spoken out yesterday in Camebridge.uk. What are your opinions on what he had to say?

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FromPhoenix | Feb 23, 2011, 12:56 AM EST

Why are the Irish courts, backed by the Catholic Church, refusing to extradite Fr. Patrick Colleary back to the US to stand trial for sex abuse crimes?

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sirpeter | Feb 22, 2011, 11:23 PM EST

@barneyjo..I agree with everything you say. I was really only talking about the human psyche and the difficulties the Catholic church face when it comes to the "failings" of human beings.There is alot of anger out there and people ARE voting with their feet. I just think the worst that will happen, is the Church will be more marginalized then it was in Ireland, as it is now in some countries in Europe.While the church is concerned with falling numbers and lack of vocations in Ireland. Judging by it's actions it appears to me, they don't seem to be to concerned.That's if you want to make a judgment by their action's. There is over a billion Catholics worldwide and most alot more devoted to Catholicism then in first world countries. Poverty and war make some great believers,as the old saying goes..There isn't any atheists in foxholes. People go to church for themselves anyway. Personally I can't work up any anger against it all.I guess it's because I knew clerical abuse was happening 40 years ago and the cover ups don't come as a big surprise to me. Double standards? Another natural condition of the human species. Thou shalt not kill. As the pope raises another army to fight another European country. Double standards? History is full of Double Standards...Government's?..We'll bring you freedom,but we'll bomb you back to the stone age first..To be honest I have lost trust in everybody a long time ago except family and 5 or 6 trusted friends. I'm not sure where i have my blinker's on,maybe you feel I'm not outraged enough..but don't tell me..I have seen enough lol. Still I have hope...I guess you could say..I have pessimism of the mind and an optimism of the heart.

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