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Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > Periscope > Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin sheds tears on "60 Minutes" as he discusses the impact on young children of abuse

Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin sheds tears on "60 Minutes" as he discusses the impact on young children of abuse

Posted on Friday, March 02, 2012 at 02:41 PM

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Archbishop Diarmuid Martin shed tears on "60 Minutes" tonight as he recounted asking to see a class of eight-year old boys in a Dublin school so he could imagine what it was like for them to be abused.

He did so after meeting a man who was horrifically abused at that age by a priest in his own archdiocese.

It was an emotional highpoint of a "60 Minutes" profile that portrayed Martin as a hero of the Irish church and a voice for the children who had been abused.

The Irish Times Religious Affairs correspondent Patsy McGarry made it clear that Martin alone among the top hierarchy had come to the aid of those abused by releasing the documents detailing the charges against hundreds of priests.

He alone among top church figures retained the loyalty of the faithful, McGarry said, pointing out that his boss, Cardinal Sean Brady, Primate of All Ireland, had been totally compromised after admitting covering up allegations made by boys many years ago into the notorious pedophile Father Brendan Smyth.

By so doing Martin clearly saved many other children from abuse and stopped the cover up..

The "60 Minutes" show painted a devastating portrait of the downfall of the church in Ireland with vocations plummeting and fall off in attendance as dramatic as only 2 per cent mass attendance in some parishes, down from over 90 per cent.

Martin is the one bright star remaining in that church and his stand off with Rome and those continuing the abuse cover up was clearly outlined on "60 Minutes."

As I stated last week here Martin is the greatest living Irishman a man who has told truth to power in the most courageous and straightforward way. The "60 Minutes" profile merely underlined that.

He has refused to tolerate child abuse practitioners among his clergy, has named and shamed them and has handed over every available file on them to the proper authorities.

His acts have made him deeply unpopular in Rome and among those apologists who would somehow make child abuse a temporary little evil in the Catholic Church.
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He is a turbulent priest, a popular figure in Irish history who stands with his people not the powers that be.

For that reason he is Ireland’s greatest living person. The "60 Minutes" profile will only add to the legend.

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49 comments

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oldboreen | Mar 03, 2012, 07:04 PM EST

Ciaradexy, I wouldn't even begin to make excuses for the church-one ruined child is one too many, however, we should remember that the entire Irish nation was at fault,largely due to over deference right across Irish society,an age-old culture of hiding away in industrial schools and so called children's homes and institutions, all those unfortunate kids and adults considered an embarrassment or an incumbrance. I know what I'm talking about-it happened in my extended family generations ago. It's all too easy now to lay the entire blame on the clergy and religious.Those poor souls-innocent children and vulnerable adults were dumped in these hell holes by my relatives and very possibly yours! 'Out of sight out of mind'-anywhere as long as they were hidden from the neighbours!

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ballylanger | Mar 03, 2012, 06:41 PM EST

What part 'religion being scam that we perpetrate upon each other' do people not understand?

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ciaradexy | Mar 03, 2012, 05:24 PM EST

Im not!! However, I am generalising in regards to an organisation that has destroyed many Irish peoples lives and had made a mess of several of my family members lives. It was endemic in Ireland. I live in Kilmainham near Goldenbridge which is the site of an old industrial school where the abuse was first uncovered. There is a graveyard there full of unmarked childrens and unmarried mothers graves. The Church covered up this abuse and moved child rapists around to different parishes. They ruined 10s of thousands of peoples lives here.

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Nicoletta | Mar 03, 2012, 05:11 PM EST

claradexy, you are tarring every Irish Catholic priest that has ever lived, with the same brush.

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rdaumack | Mar 03, 2012, 04:54 PM EST

Archbishop Martin is a breath of fresh air. We have to appreciate his courage. Comparing sex abuse in the church with other institutions is futile. There shouldn't be any sex abuse in these insitutions, especially those that are religious institutions. The abuse of children has been Ireland's dirty little secret for generations. It has to stop especially in the Church. We answer to God himself and there is a particular circle in hell for those clerics who are child abusers and an even hotter one for those who covered them up. Diamard Martin is our champion. Follow the way he is leading. Raymond D. Aumack

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eiriamach | Mar 03, 2012, 03:54 PM EST

Please, enough clericalism already! I kept an open mind on Diarmuid Martin as long as I could, but Geroid4's recommendation of him tells me that Martin would be only more of the same old. It's time for the people to be "the outspoken" after too many words and too little truth from prelates. It's time for priests and prelates to listen and learn. If Archbp Martin can do those things, good enough. If not, he will be sidelined by change. These are crucial times. "In changing situations producing fresh challenges to the Gospel," the responsibility to communicate the word of God belongs to "the whole people of God. The Holy Spirit works through all members of the community, using the gifts he gives to each for the good of all" (Bishops Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and Mark Santer, Sept 1998). The "whole people" have been waiting a long time to speak. Really, it's time for clerics to be quiet and listen.... shhhushh!

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ciaradexy | Mar 03, 2012, 03:39 PM EST

Nicoletta, I think the point is that the Church pretty much ruled this country and controlled everything that people did here. It was meant to preach the word of god. Its a misogynistic organisation that treated women appallingly over the years. It was meant to protect children, instead it raped them.

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Nicoletta | Mar 03, 2012, 03:09 PM EST

Good article Mr O'Dowd and some salient comments too. Hermittalker makes a good point when he says that child abuse is an issue for everyone though, not just in the Church, as the media would have us think. As a teacher I worked for several years with an abuser, who was eventually sent to prison for seven years. The school district had moved him from school to school claiming they had no concrete evidence against him. His abhorrent crimes had gone on for thirty years and yet they were hushed up by the authorities.

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Gearoid4 | Mar 03, 2012, 02:56 PM EST

Dr Martin has offered himself to be the outspoken prelate who would break ranks with the previous silences or inadequate responses of brother bishops and instill a more realistic attitude in relation to current Church travails. He has the advantage of not being included the members of the episcopate who have been associated with recent scandalous revelations. His verbal forthrightness and humble gestures present a chink of light amidst the present gloom. I hope that the recent visitations to the various Irish dioceses by the Vatican delegations will bear a lot of fruit in terms of a much needed overhaul of diocesan structures, priestly formation and a more pronounced emphasis on the place of the laity in the Church. I don't know if Archbishop Diarmuid Martin is the greatest Irishman alive at present, but he certainly is one of the most inspirational.

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mamaginnty | Mar 03, 2012, 02:28 PM EST

correction..disgusted.

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mamaginnty | Mar 03, 2012, 02:27 PM EST

Niall I thank the lord you did not run for president of our country, you have gone a bit mad. Or then again maybe not, you know this would get a lot of comments and keep your job going, ( the greatest living irish man ) how dare you, Martin should have spoke out 20-30 yrs ago they all knew what was going on, but no, he waited till it hit the fan then he decides to squeal and slap himself on the back in front of the irish people, but being two faced does not work for us. Niall you would do better to give support to the children and young women who found the strength to come forward. I am discusted at what you have written ( GREATEST ) my ass.

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culchiewoman | Mar 03, 2012, 01:02 PM EST

This is the man who, in a 2004 meeting with representatives of Justice for Magdalenes just after he'd been installed Archbishop of Dublin, laughed and joked that the women who were encarcerated and slaved in Ireland's Magdalene Laundries "didn't do a very good job with my socks." Greatest living Irishman, Niall? I don't think so. He's talked a good game and tried to play the role of "peacemaker" and beleagured "friend" to Irish Catholics. Yet he chastised those of us brave enough to run screaming from the abuse, rape and evil inherent in this institution. Make no mistake: one doesn't "lapse away" from such corruption -- one definitely runs screaming. So which is it, Archbishop Martin? Giving decent people who were abused a tongue-lashing for "falling away" from evil, or hollow "healing" rituals like last year's farcical foot-washing in the Pro Cathedral? Neither is very great, in my mind (and, I'm sure, the minds of many). "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." I'm not sure Martin falls into the latter category of that quote, but I'm damned sure he's not "great".

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roryobrien | Mar 03, 2012, 12:10 PM EST

Everybody - the sad thing is that as Irish people we actually BELIEVED. I've been living in Spain for 15 years and reluctantly have discovered, as Ernest Hemingway so rightly put it, "the Spanish are the most pagan of all." Indeed, there is no mention of sexual abuse scandals here, and Catholicism is a badge worn by the extreme right and followers of Franco.

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like2tweet | Mar 03, 2012, 12:10 PM EST

Archbishop Martin is a profound example of a man with a conscience, not an unthinking prayer wheel and apologist for his masters

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eccles64 | Mar 03, 2012, 11:52 AM EST

I must disagree. I am a member of ANTI CATHOLIC ACTVISTS IRELAND, a group of victims of sexual abuse by the clergy of the rotten Roman Catholic Church. These so-called "Apologies" from "Archbishop" Martin are useless without considerable financial compensation to the victims. That has not been forthcoming. The ACCAI leaders are trying to set up a meeting with Martin on their terms, not his terms. The Rotten Roman Catholic Church from the Pope down keeps on stalling, making excuses and worst of all NOT HANDING THE SEXUAL ABUSERS OVER TO THE POLICE. The Church says it will deal with the problem under "CANON LAW". Is Canon Law above the Law of any country? NO WAY. Why are so many Roman Catholics in Ireland quitting the Church in droves? Mass attendances have bropped to 2% in many Churches in Ireland. The ACCAI demands that the EVIL ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH gets out of Ireland NOW.

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