RSS
News


Home Page > News > Pope 'disturbed and distressed' at Irish child sex abuse cases and cover-up

Pope 'disturbed and distressed' at Irish child sex abuse cases and cover-up

Says he shares outrage felt by Irish people over scandal

By
DONAL THORNTON,
Irish Central.com
Published Friday, December 11, 2009, 12:28 PM
Updated Friday, December 11, 2009, 12:45 PM

print this article Print
email this articleE-mail
comment on article 6 Comments
 

Pope Benedict XVI: 'Disturbed and distressed' at Irish child sex abuse
Pope Benedict XVI: 'Disturbed and distressed' at Irish child sex abuse


Pope Benedict has said he is disturbed and distressed at the sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

The Pope said he shared the "outrage, betrayal and shame" felt by Irish people over the abuse and cover-up.

The pontiff said the Vatican was working on developing new safeguards to ensure such  "heinous crimes" never happened again.

He also said he was asking for prayers for the victims.

The Pope was speaking after a 90-minute meeting with Cardinal Seán Brady, the Primate of All Ireland, and Monsignor Diarmuid Martin, the Archbishop of Dublin about the Murphy Report which detailed the horrific events.

The Murphy inquiry examined the Catholic Church's handling of child abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese over a period of 30 years (1975 - 2004) and found that the Church had been "obsessively" secretive.

It revealed a detailed account of the abuse suffered by the more than 300 victims which was systematically covered up by the Church authorities.

The report further found that the Church was far more concerned about the Church reputation than the welfare of the children.

"The Holy Father shares the outrage, betrayal and shame felt by so many of the faithful in Ireland, and he is united with them in prayer at this difficult time in the life of the Church," a  statement from the Vatican said.

"He wishes once more to express his profound regret at the actions of some members of the clergy who have betrayed their solemn promises to God, as well as the trust placed in them by the victims and their families, and by society at large."

​
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail


6 Comments

See all comments

excatholic | Apr 10, 2010, 09:35 AM EDT
One of my abused friends was paid by the church to be silent. He stayed very quiet! Another committed suicide. Her father died shortly after from a massive heart attack and total despair. Yet another lives with the memory of having a physical relationship with a training priest when she was only 14 yo. When I went to catholic youth group as a very young teenager, we were entertained one evening at the church premises with a movie where a woman was pack raped! I was so shocked I never told my parents. Sorry guys, but all you well meaning people have been totally conditioned with misinformation. Read your Bibles! Who is The Harlot? Who is Babylon the Great? Who is false religion? Go figure. Satan IS ruling this world, just as it says, and he is real mad! Stay close to your creator. You will not find the true God within the catholic religion! The worst crime on earth is to sexually abuse our precious children. To do it in the name of God shows us evil in its purest form. I am so mad at all our parents who stand by the catholic religion and make every excuse under the sun, yet if we had just one peadophile in our street today, I guarantee he would either not be there now or be in prison. So what is it with these paedophile priests? The untouchables! They're in every country on the planet! For over 50 yrs this hideous yrs crime goes on and on and on! Governments and religious leaders! Friends or foe? Obviously friends! So many people, so sad

Report abuse

barneyjo | Dec 12, 2009, 03:33 AM EST
I say "Bobbyjo for Pope!!"

Report abuse

jmcmahon | Dec 12, 2009, 12:09 AM EST
This was rampant in boarding schools in the 1960 and 1970s. Who would believe a 13 year old who was crazy enough to speak up? Those in authority swept it under the table. At most, 10% of the church were bad eggs, supported by those who allowed the corruption to destroy the work of the good dedicated men and women who lived up to their vows. If you thought that Christ was angry in the temple 2000 years ago - what do you think he would do today with those who would destroy young lives? Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Report abuse

bobbyjo | Dec 11, 2009, 10:27 PM EST
You, Mr. Ratzinger, should feel outrage and shame. If you want to develop safeguards that this won't happen, start by cleaning up your ungodly doctrine passed down by your predecessors. Do as Jesus proclaimed and stop calling mere men Father. Show reverence and fear to the only One that can destroy both the body and the soul. Here's a clue, it isn't man. Stop teaching followers of Christ to pray like the heathen, in vain repetition. Renounce the manmade rule forbidding men to marry. Come clean about the clergy not wanting offspring to inherit the wealth. Start proclaiming "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Ponder what Jesus declared, "You must be born again." Mr. Ratzinger, Jesus came to save that which was lost, not the righteous. Truely, which are you?

Report abuse

jacersisityourself | Dec 11, 2009, 06:55 PM EST
kickstar - I dunno about too little, and it would never too late to apologise as you may have found, or will find, in your own life. Especially when you meet God.

Report abuse

kickstar | Dec 11, 2009, 01:49 PM EST
Sorry popey old boy Too Little Too Late

Report abuse

 


IrishCentral logo
"Like" IrishCentral
IrishCentral Mobile QR code


Connect to IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or Sign-Up directly

Already Registered? Sign-In!

Welcome to IrishCentral!
Please provide the following information in order to create your account

Username:
E-Mail Address:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy


Already Registered? Sign-In!
Forgot my password

Welcome to IrishCentral!
All we need is the following information and you will be part of the #1 Irish community in the US

E-Mail Address:
First select a unique username:
Username:
Now choose a password:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Thank you!

Just one more step and you will be part of the largest Irish community in America! Tell us a little more about you to start enjoying all the features of IrishCentral.

Additional Information:

First Name:
Last Name:
Date of Birth:
Zip:
Gender: Male  Female 
Country:
Degree of Irishness:
Household Income:
Level of Education:

Subscribe to our newsletters:

The Best of IrishCentral - Daily Newsletter
Special Offers from our sponsors

or
Skip

You can edit your information at any time, just go to "my account" when you're logged in.

Log into IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

E-Mail:
Password:
 Remember me Forgot my password
Not a member? Register Now!
submit to reddit
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail