Honesty and a commitment to justice would have more meaning than any meeting
An edited version of this article appeared in The Independent newspaper in the UK on April 19, 2010.
Given all we now know about the cover up of clerical sexual abuse by Rome it’s difficult to see what is significant about the Pope’s meeting with a small number of victims in Malta over the weekend. I can fully appreciate that it may have been meaningful to those who chose to meet the Pope, but it hardly represents a major breakthrough in addressing the global scandals engulfing the Roman Catholic Church.
One might have expected that such meetings, as part of a meaningful engagement with victims, would have been an essential component of an appropriate response to abuse by priests. They are certainly at odds with the ongoing denial of the Vatican of its responsibility for the cover up of crimes against children and its use of sovereign immunity to block efforts to hold it to account before civil courts.
The perversity of blaming everyone else, including at times the victims themselves for the crimes and cover ups of the church in a ridiculous attempt to dodge accountability, whilst expressing care and concern for victims seems entirely lost upon the Vatican.
But there was a much more significant event this weekend.
Speaking at a Catholic University Cardinal Dario Hoyos revealed that a letter he wrote praising French Bishop Peirre Pican for not passing information about a rapist priest to the French police was sent to every Catholic Bishop in the world in 2001 with the approval of Pope John Paul II. Pican had been convicted of failing to report abuse by a Catholic Abbot sentenced to eighteen years in prison for paedophilia.
In his letter Cardinal Hoyos wrote, “I congratulate you for not denouncing a priest to the civil administration. You have acted well and I am pleased to have a colleague in the episcopate who, in the eyes of history and of all other bishops in the world, preferred prison to denouncing his son and priest.” Hoyos was at the time one of the most senior figures in the Catholic Church as head of the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy.
So there it is, indisputable proof that the Vatican actively supported the cover up of clerical sexual abuse.
Also exposed is the ongoing deceit of the Vatican’s protestations that the church has not covered up abuse. Only last week at the same press conference where he asserted that homosexuality was a cause of paedophilia, the Pope’s second in command Cardinal Bertone said that the church had never impeded investigations of abuse by priests.
Meetings are all very well, but surely honesty and a commitment to justice would be much more meaningful?
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Haven’t they always spoken with a forked tongue though. Methinks they have imbibed to long (or not long enough) at the Tree of Knowledge. Cardinal Dario Hoyos’ letter is revolting and removes the fig-leaf. The Vatican and every bishop in the Church of Rome is now proven to be complicit in the clergy abuse cover-up.
Yet again, it is clear that nothing the Pope, the Vatican or indeed the wider church will ever be enough. Haven’t you been one of the people calling for the Pope to meet with victims, to apologise, etc? But when he does, it is dismissed as being of no consequence, though at least you have the grace to acknowledge that it ‘may have been meaningful’ to the victims themselves. You also mention on Twitter that the focus must now be on accountability and proper child protection. If you were being truly fair minded, you would at least acknowledge that the Church is 2010 is the safest place for a child to be, and that nowadays if there is so much as a whiff of suspicion against a priest, he either stands down or is removed while evidence is gathered. It’s a zero tolerance policy, and taints the innocent as much as charges the guilty, but it is better than what went before. Did you, by any chance, see this report in todays Irish Independent – http://bit.ly/bJrsXr – detailing inquiries into abuse in schools by lay teachers taking up to 9 years to investigate by the HSE and the Department of Education? This is not to deflect attention from the Church, but rather to point out that abuse of children is continuing in other sectors, while all public attention, it seems, is focussed on the churchs’ sins of the past. May I suggest that you might read both Damien Thompson in the Telegraph online, and John Allen online from Rome, before passing judgement that is clearly based on one-sided reports from a secular media that has its own agenda with regard to the church that goes way beyond accountability for child sexual abuse.
And Andrew, with all due respect, a sweeping statement that every bishop is now proven to be complicit in cover-up is not, in fact, proof: it is simply a sweeping statement.
Marie I am afraid you are misinformed. I have never called for the Pope to meet with victims. You are right that I have called for accountability. I wonder how that can ever be possible whilst the Vatican continues to deny the truth and spin the facts whilst at the same time using sovereign immunity to avoind being accountable before the courts like everyone else? After all, if they are blameless for the cover up as they suggest this would be an ideal avenue to allow them to disclose their actions to independent and objective examination. I have called upon the Pope to acknowledge the systemic cover up perpetrated by the institutional church for a very long time, but to no avail. As you may be aware as late as last week the Vatican was asserting that the church had never impeded investigations into abuse by priests, which is a clear and blatant lie. This is unequivocally evidenced by the release of the letter sent by the Vatican with the approval of Pope John Paul II to Bishop Pican following his conviction for not reporting abuse by serial clerical abuser.
I would very much love to acknowledge that the Church is the safest place for a child to be but I cannot. Even here in Ireland that is simply not the case. The church’s own Safeguarding Board found that child protection in the Diocese of Cloyne was “inadequate” and “dangerous” as recently as 2008. Equally you will no doubt be aware of the issues arising out of efforts to audit child protection practice across the church nationally here in Ireland. It is certainly not the case that the catholic Church is one of the safest places for a child to be in Ireland today. At the most basic level how could it be given the ongoing institutional denial by the Vatican of the nature and prevalence of child abuse within the church and its systemic cover up of crimes against children?
If things have progressed here so much then where is the leadership of integrity that ought to challenge some of the more blatant lies and distortions by the Vatican in recent weeks? Where was the Irish Church leadership that represents such a sea change in attitudes and practice when it came to condemning and rejecting the vile and deceitful statements by the Vatican number two and Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone last week when he said that homosexuality caused paedophilia? What did they have to say about his blatantly deceitful assertion that the Church had never impeded investigations into clerical crimes? The Catholic Bishops in the UK seemed able to make a statement rejecting the linking of homosexuality and paedophilia, why not the Irish Bishops if they have truly learnt the lessons of past failures?
In relation to the principle of a person standing down if there is a child protection concern, this is accepted best practice. It has been the norm within any organisation I have ever worked with for many, many years. The issue is, as we saw in Cloyne in recent years, that approach is not universally practiced within the Irish church.
You are quite right to point out the enormous flaws in child protection standards in other parts of our society. I have done a lot of work over the years to address this and will continue to do what ever I can in the future. However, the Catholic Church is unique in that it has been found to have had a deliberate and willful policy to cover up child abuse and to allow abusers to carry on raping and abusing children with near impunity. That this is the case is now an established fact post the Ryan, ferns and Murphy Reports. Given the extraordinary power that the Church has had here in Ireland, and the fact that it was until very recently almost entirely unaccountable to either the public or the law, the focus on its role in covering up abuse is surely entirely understandable and appropriate?
We must ensure that we continue to work towards greater child protection standards across society, but that does not mean lessening the focus on the crimes and failure of the institutional Catholic Church at the global level.
And it is the global nature of the Catholic Church that is the greatest concern. You say that the Church is the safest place for a child to be? Do you really believe that to be the case in Nigeria, or Brazil, or the Philippines or in so many other countries? How do you explain the gross failure of the current Pope to introduce mandatory child protection policy across the global church? Surely our concern for children must extend beyond our local area…that is if we have any real commitment to the notion of a global humanity and our mutual duty of care to all peoples?
I have read with great interest much of what John Allen has to say on the issue over the years and will continue to do so. On a final note, I certainly do not agree that the Telegraph online has demonstrated much objectivity in its approach to this issue. I have read, and continue to read extensively to ensure that I both challenge and inform my views. That includes reading and engaging in an open minded way with people who hold very different opinions to my own.
I am a survivor of sexual abuse by a priest and this is the first time I have spoken in such an arena. I do so now, because I am increasingly frustrated by the views of people who believe this is a witch-hunt against the Catholic church.
Currently I am still a practising Catholic – I say currently because I have found the response of the RCC, right from the Pope to the local bishops and laity, to have been as hurtful and as devastating as the experience of the abuse itself.
Marie, I acknowledge completely that the abuse of children happens in all parts of society and we all have our part to play in the protection of children, either as parents, aunts, uncle, teachers etc.
I believe the reason for the focus on the RCC is because of the moral authority and power that has been part of the culture of the church within our societies and our lives. That is part of the problem, the position of power that lay within the church and that many are still clinging to, for fear of what they or their lives might be like to be ‘powerless’.
‘Powerlessness’ is something that I and many victims/survivors know only too well.
John 8: 31-38 Jesus speaks to the CHILDREN of Abraham.
Jesus said ” If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know truth, and the truth will set you free.”
That statement, ” the truth will set you free” has been significant in my own personal journey. It has been in the naming and speaking my truth that has set me free, in so many ways.
It is my belief that, if those in positions of responsibility and power in the RCC would hold to the teachings of Jesus, then they would know truth and the truth would set them free, and they then would be true disciples of Jesus.
Yes, the TRUTH is painful, as we all know, but what is the alternative?? A return to the ‘good oul days’. It was in the ‘good oul days’ when the culture of secrecy, power and abuse was at it’s worse. I was abused in the mid 1990’s and to me that was not that long ago! In the case of Cloyne in 2008, that’s frightening after all the reports, so I disagree that the church in 2010 is the safest place for a child.
So, I thank the God I believe in, for people like Colm (and others) who have had the courage to ” speak the truth”,(with such integrity) as painful as it has been, so that people like me, no longer feel alone, isolated, shamed, dirty, wanting to kill myself – you get the picture I’m sure.
What we see and hear in the media is only a fraction of the full TRUTH. It would be interesting, and I’m sure very sad, if we could put a figure on the many people like me who for whatever reason feel they can’t or don’t want to speak out about their experiences of abuse by men and woman who represented the ” love and compassion” of God.
That is why the abuse by clergy and religious is so devastating, as it goes against all the core values and beliefs about all that we believe about love, compassion, beauty, goodness, truth and justice. And that was what I was brought up to believe in – and that has been a big loss in my life and why I struggle with being a part of the RCC – not a witch-hunt or any other agenda.
Marie.
You are sooooo sadly mistaken in stating that the church is the safest place for a child to be. I am a survivor of clergy abuse from the United States (New York State). And despite all the recent revelations of the abuse in Europe, and all the nonsense Vatican officials are spouting about how they don’t impede investigations, the New York State Catholic Conference of Bishops is currently spending thousands of dollars to defeat a law that would give survivors like me a one-year window to identify clergy perpetrators CURRENTLY IN MINISTRY!!!!
That’s how much the Catholic church cares about children.
THAT’S how safe (not) kids are in the Roman Catholic Church!
As I write, the man who abused me is currently in ministry in a parish in New Jersey and NOT ONE FAMILY EVEN KNOWS OF HIS PAST!!! He remains untouchable, protected by a law that says I cannot bring him to justice.
Please stop defending these people who have the unmitigated gall to ask the support of people like you whose kids THEY ARE NOT EVEN WILLING TO PROTECT!!
If you want to stay Catholic that is fine…….but you can’t have your cake and eat it too….if you stay you must speak out and hold them accountable. To do otherwise is to be a silent accomplice to the soul murder they are STILL committing.
Marie.
I see no offence of your reply to Colm. Nor can offence be levelled at your lightweight insipid response to the gravity of the issue`s highlighted by Colm which appear to fly past your head.
Your misguided perception of the church in 2010 as being the safest place for a child to be , fill`s me with dread, in that after ten hard year`s of unrequiting press coverage to the effect that the most dangerous place for a child, is in effect the church, which you robustly attempt to defend.
The mere fact that you point to Damien Thompson, and John Allen indicates to myself your lack of knowledge, understanding, and indeed your total and misguided faith in such biased and bigoted attempts by the above named journalist`s to attempt a defence of the church , which in reality does not exist, given the horrendous exposure`s of the past ten year`s , starting in America, then Ireland, and now a Global epidemic of mind staggering proportion`s which now amount to a systemic assault on the world`s children by catholic paedophile priest`s, bishops, archbishops, cardinal`s, and now right up to the Pope`s front door . If he had nothing to fear, then he should avail himself to the International Criminal Court for examination, as suggested by Geoffrey Robinson , an eminent UN Judge and noted QC who has called for the arrest of the Pope.
Marie, how can your church function when bedevilled by malfunction as presently seen by many notable world figure`s as mired in corrupion. One example of it`s current problem`s concern`s Cardinal Sean Brady, who publicly admitted the part he played in allowing and assisting the notorious paedophile priest Brendan Smyth to continue raping children, in that he failed to act when confronted by admission`s of Smyth committing such crime`s and taking ownership of these crimes. The Cardinal`s remit was to silence the children, thereby failing to protect them, and by implication left other children prone to the admitted predation of Smyth. Such an act of omission by the Cardinal surely merit`s his resignation. This give`s rise to further problems for the church and hierarchy, if the Pope call`s for Cardinal Sean Brady`s resignation, then such a move by the Vatican signal`s that Cardinal Brady may be open to criminal prosecution, if the Vatican does not call for his resignation, then by implication they too, ie, the Pope lose`s credibility to rid his church of the filth which he say`s permeate`s it, will resemble`s hollow word`s. The present Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, cannot and would not be expected to work alongside Cardinal Sean Brady following his public confession to covertly silencing two children who had been abused by Smyth. And it is this present predicatment of the Pope, Vatican and hierachy Marie where you should be addressing your concern`s, it is a mess of their own making.
Yesterday there was a call by Dukes for all Bishop`s in Ireland to stand down, this gentleman has got it about right, so has Andrew.
While I understand your angst at the present status of your church Marie, unfortunately I can tender no sympathy for you,
Catholicism finished for myself at the tender age of ten, as I entered an Industrial school in Ireland and thereafter suffered many rape`s conducted by religious men, including a Priest.
There will be no recovery for your church Marie, until such time as criminal accountability is rendered through the Court`s for the crimes committed against, an on, innocent children by this church you attempt to defend.
You must look to your Pope for the answer`s Marie, for therein lie`s the solution, he must sack all those involved in the commission of such act`s, and those responsible for covering up such barbaric act`s which in reality amount to Crime`s Against Humanity.
As for meeting the Pope, quite frankly Marie, a drink with the Devil would be preferable.
Dear Colm, first, I am very sorry for the pain that you endured as a victim of abuse and understand and support your point that that the pope’s apology must be accompanied by his showing leadership to ensure that church policies regarding abuse are in line with recognised best practices in society. True contrition to victims, such as the pope showed in Malta, does seem to me to be an important first step for the pope. I am hopeful that this pope will follow through with his firm resolution to make amends. My experience of a Catholic education from Irish brothers and nuns has been life-altering in a very positive sense. To them I owe the talents that they helped me to nurture and the Catholic faith, which I love. Despite the deplorable sins (and crimes) of individuals within the church, and the sinful structures that have facilitated them, I am full of hope that God is active and present constantly to overcome evil. Thanks for your work in bringing the evils to light and eradicating them as much as possible in society, but let us affirm first steps, however insignificant or ineffective they might seem, as a sign of hope for the future. For me, what the pope did in Malta showed us where his heart is (I was afraid he would heed those who said his schedule was too packed). Of course we need concrete measures also but the genuine contrition and compassion shown by the pope was important, especially for the victims. We’re all in this fight together….
John……I am glad your experience of Catholic formation has been a positive one. However, meeting with survivors while for decades impeding investigations into the felony rape of children is, for me, simply complete malarkey.
Please consider the following scenario. Perhaps it can help put this entire affair in its proper context and help you see this horrible reality in its proper light:.
I am going to write a few sentences. Each time you read the work “next door neighbor” insert the word “priest”.
Here goes:
“My next door neighbor abused my son. Instead of having him arrested for the felony rape of my son, the organization he worked for covered up his crime. They didn’t want the sordid affair to bring any harm to its reputation.. They were also afraid of losing lots of money should the knowledge of the rape become public. Finally, they were afraid that the heads of this organization would be in serious trouble should their hiding of the incident come into the light.
So they moved my neighbor to the next town where he raped more children. This was also found out but the organization he worked for again hid the crime (for the same reasons) and sent him off to the next town where he did more of the same.
By and by, it came to light that such behavior was systemic…..rape followed by cover up followed by transfer followed by more rape followed by more cover-up……..What’s more, it was found out that such a practice was WORLD-WIDE for this organization. In fact, when the tally was made, it was discovered that this organization was/is responsible for the felony rape of literally millions of children around the globe. Sadly, it was/is a modern day children’s holocaust.
And now the head of this organization – to show he is “dealing” with the problem – has the audacity to meet with a handful of victims to “comfort” them and tell them he’s sorry!!!!!!
Moral of the story: if what the pope, cardinals, bishops have been doing was ANY OTHER ORGANIZATION (Mobil Oil, Enron, AT&T, you name it) society’s outrage would long ago have known no bounds. And rather than “meeting” with a few victims, its leader would have been put in prison for his role in this holocaust.
Sorry, John, but unlike you, I have stopped giving Catholic leaders a pass out of some misplaced sense of loyalty to them……(because they are Catholic leaders…..or because I was raised Catholic ). We are talking of the felony rape of millions of kids worldwide…………..
The “pope” shouldn’t be “meeting” with victims…………victims should be gracious enough to visit the pope where he belongs……….in jail.
Hello Colm,
I have wanted to thank you for some time for speaking out so courageously and constantly. I found your book very helpful and have made good use of the phoneline at one in four uk.
I too am angry and mostly despair of the church’s response to clerical child rape but instead of just shouting at the tv and inspired by you I have just mailed the following letter to the Pope. By the way, I totally agree that it is no excuse for the vatican to keep bleating on about abuse happening elsewhere – as I say in my letter, one child rape is one child rape too many:
20 April 2010
Dear Pope Benedict XVI,
I hope you received my well thumbed copy of Alice Miller’s “The Drama Of Being A Child”? May I also recommend her other books to you and anyone who is concerned with bringing child rape and cruelty to an end? Her titles give a flavour of her philosophy:
“Thou Shalt Not Be Aware”; “For Your Own Good” and “Breaking The Silence”.
I sent you my copy of the book along with my poem/prayer “May All The Children In The World Be Safe And Free”, in response to your letter to the church in Ireland. I have read this letter a number of times and have been following the impassioned debate in the press and on the internet with interest.
When I read your letter, I read it as a plea for help and I wanted to make a constructive contribution to the debate. I hope that you can agree that one child rape is one child rape too many. The public outrage and demand that you accept your responsibility in these matters is valid. However, child rape is a global problem. I hope that everyone, apart from child rapists, wants an end to child rape and I would like to suggest that all people of all religions, races, classes, political persuasions, genders, sexualities and abilities use the ensuing debate as a catalyst to work together to end all cruelty to all children. It is rare to find a subject like this that we can find global agreement over.
So, how can I best make a contribution to this debate? What can I say that has not already been said?
I am part of the Irish Catholic diaspora and have been affected by both a clerical child rapist and a father who raped me repeatedly when I was a child. When Michael Hill, my old parish priest, was being convicted earlier this century, I was deeply affected, but all I felt able to do was shout at the television as Cormac Murphy O’Connor gave his pathetic excuses for colluding with and enabling this criminal. How can any bishop, who surely must have read:
“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 5)
and
“It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble” (Luke 17:2).
and
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of my bretheren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 40),
claim ignorance as an excuse for not handing clerical child rapists over to the police? Also, in this context, I wonder how you can urge these rapists not to despair of God’s mercy.
Your letter has prompted me to re-visit my experience of having a paedophile for a priest. I feel nauseous at the thought of taking communion from hands that have done the things his hands have done. One of his victims told me in detail what he has suffered at the hands of this man. I wept with impotent grief all night after listening to his account.
Along with reading Alice Miller, I take my inspiration from all the heroic survivors of child rape who have told their stories and dedicated their lives to healing themselves and others and campaigning for an end to child rape.
When possible, of course it is important to seek legal justice for both rapist and victim. This is not always possible and the current punishments inflicted by judges, prison officers, fellow prisoners and their local communities have failed to deter offenders. Also what about all of us who were affected by crimes against others? I wonder if there are other people like me who wish to meet with Michael Hill or their paedophile priest? I would like to tell him how his crimes have affected me.
I know this because the single most empowering moment of my life was when I confronted my own father. In retrospect I realise that I was ill advised to do this without support but I was lucky, he did not hurt me again and he admitted to raping me, which allayed my fears that I might have imagined the whole thing. I would therefore like to propose, in addition to legal proceedings, that we find a way to set up something along the lines of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In the cases of clerical child rape, I suggest this might be a good start in the healing of the church as a whole.
The second most empowering experience of my life was when I performed my play about how I survived child rape to sex offenders in a prison. Some of the men cried. The post show discussion was franker than at any other performance and two child rapists, who had hitherto insisted that their crimes were not wrong, admitted to understanding why what they had done was wrong.
I also think it important to point out that there are still many survivors of clerical child rape who will never seek justice. They may not want the risk of social notoriety and shame. They may fear that they will be seen as at risk of raping children. This is a common myth promoted by the media. Whilst many convicted child rapists say that they were in turn raped when they were children, it does not logically follow that all survivors of child rape go on to rape children. As I have said before many of us have told our stories and dedicated our lives to healing ourselves and others and campaigning for an end to child rape. The shame of these crimes does not belong to the victims.
I find I have so much to say on the subject that I might never finish writing this letter. I would like to take you up on your invitation to meet and talk about so much more, for instance: how the hierarchical structure of the church contributes to clerical child rape since, as we all know, rape is about domination and abuse of power; how the church’s attitude to sex and dislike of sex education has affected victims of clerical child rape. And so I will conclude by accepting your invitation to pray with you:
May all the children in the world be safe and free.
May we never live in fear and misery.
Cherished and respected,
Nourished and protected,
May all the children in the world be safe and free.
May all the children in the world be safe and free.
But if any suffer rape or cruelty,
May we believe them when they tell us,
May we rage and demand: “JUSTICE!”.
May all the children in the world be safe and free.
May all the children in the world be safe and free.
But if you violate our freedom or safety,
May we be heard and supported,
Empowered and comforted.
May all the children in the world be safe and free.
May all the children in the world be safe and free.
And if anyone has violent tendencies,
May you choose to stop before you act
And get your kicks down other tracks.
May all the children in the world be safe and free.
May all the children in the world be safe and free.
May we never live in fear and misery.
Cherished and respected,
Nourished and protected,
May all the children of the earth be safe and free.
by Bríd Wyldearth 2008
In trusting belief that we can end child rape,
Bríd Wyldearth
Maire and John
Get real. In spite of all the evidence about the vile, anti-Christian behaviour of some priests and the vile, anti-Christain behaviour of bishops, the Vatican and the Pope in protecting those priests, you still try to defend them or mitigate their culpability. For God’s sake, as well as destroying the lives of young children, this organisation has for years been condemning gay folks, contraceptive users, divorcees to hell. Jesus never said a word about these folks. The Catholic Church has openly supported right wing, fascist dictatorships in Europe ( eg Franco) and South America ( eg Pinochet) in repressing their poor ( Catholic) populations. Worst of all, it actually claims to somehow exclusively know how Jesus of Nazareth wants us to behave! Maire and John, reflect on how deeply you were indoctrinated in your formative years – think of the life- destroying nonsense that is hell, heaven, mortal sin, the sacraments, holy pictures, marble-hearted powerful ‘holy’ men – and the fear and repression of that almost unmentionable: sex. If Jesus was here today I shudder to think what he would make of the patriarchal, misogynistic, obscenely wealthy institution that is the Catholic Church. It is the anthesis of everything that Jesus stood for.
I have my faith in God…but no longer have faith in my church.