In the Darkest Hours
Catholics are rightly shocked by the report of abuses committed against minors by priests and the handling of allegations of such offences in the archdiocese of Dublin. There is no mitigation. Those responsible for abuse and those who covered up these abuses have brought scandal to the Body of Christ.
The details of the report by the Dublin Commission of Inquiry, or Murphy Report, like those previously published in Ireland and elsewhere, are distressing. As disciples of Christ, our loyalty must reside firmly and unambiguously with those who were betrayed and those who were affected by it.
It is also disturbing that the Vatican did not fully cooperate with the commission, citing (apparently inapplicable) diplomatic procedures. This does not reflect at all well on the institutional Church which should be seen to be distancing itself from cover-ups of abuses.
We take consolation from the fact that leaders of the Irish Church are taking precisely these positions. We are encouraged by the forthrightness of Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who has described the content of the report as revolting.
Archbishop Martin, who was appointed to Dublin after a long career in the Vatican’s diplomatic corps, has unequivocally declared his solidarity with the survivors of abuse, as has the primate of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh, and other Irish bishops.
The incidence and nature of the abuse was not a secret. Many personal stories by abuse survivors already had been in the public domain, and the archdiocese of Dublin alone has already paid out compensation to 450 victims, at a cost of more than R110 million (including legal fees). Yet, the Murphy Report will re-ignite anger about these people’s terrible experiences, and more so about the absolute failures of Church leaders the report names Archbishop Martin’s three immediate predecessors as culpable and the Irish police, the gardai.
In Ireland, the once imperious Catholic Church now has diminished credibility and for that, it has only itself to blame. It is up to people like Archbishop Martin to rebuild a sceptical nation’s trust.
But Archbishop Martin and like-minded bishops can do only so much. Now is the time for those who failed in their duties to take public responsibility and offer a sincere, unqualified apology. It is difficult to see how confidence in the Irish Church can be rebuilt as long as individuals named as culpable in the Murphy Report remain in their office.
Those still in office should resign, and those who are retired should remain out of the public eye, other than to state their sincere contrition over their part in covering-up of criminal acts.
The faithful have every right to feel aggrieved, and to express their anguish. The betrayal of young Catholics was a betrayal of Christ and of his Church. It was a betrayal of every Catholic who is confronted with hostility towards their faith, not because the faith is deficient, but because those who were supposed to guard, teach and live it failed in their obligation. And it was a betrayal of the great many priests and religious whose lifetime of exemplary service is now tarnished by association.
The timing of the much-delayed release of the Murphy Report may seem unfortunate, creating a distraction at the season of Advent during which we are called to actively seek God. Yet even the appalling revelations offer us an opportunity to reflect fruitfully on salvation.
Jesus promised us: I will be with you always (Mt 28:20). He is with us even when we wilfully ignore him as we commit sin – be it the derelictions of Irish Church hierarchs or our individual failings. And he is there when we seek to turn away from sin.
He is with the Church in Ireland now as it surveys the wreckage of a scandal, and he is with us when we are confronted by the consequences of our sinful actions. He is with us in the darkest hours.
And may he be manifest in the lives of the many people who were harmed by those in the Church who were supposed to communicate his love, perhaps so much so that they lost their faith.
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