Kids Are Being Hurt !!!
Murphy report is only the beginning
The Sunday Times, November 29, 2009
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, warned that it would “shock us all” and throw up challenges the Catholic church in Ireland has never experienced before. Prostrating himself in front of a congregation in Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral last Easter, Dr Martin seemed to be taking a leaf from the best spin-doctoring manuals, softening up the public in advance of bad news. But no amount of humble pie from the archbishop could prepare the public for the graphic revelations of the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation report into the church’s and state’s handling of allegations of child sexual abuse against clerics over a 30-year period. Photo
Even a public sickened by the torturous abuse revealed in the Ryan report, published earlier this year, will have struggled afresh to comprehend the litany of perverted, criminal behaviour outlined in such dreadful detail in the report from Justice Murphy’s commission. The nature of the evil to which children were subjected was alarming.
The scale of the abuse, however, points to something far more sinister. The cover-up that senior Catholic figures and the Vatican mounted to prevent criminal charges being laid against their priests suggests that the church took advantage of its unique position of power and privilege in Irish society to operate what amounted to a paedophile ring. The commission concluded that there was no “direct evidence” to show such a ring existed. Nevertheless, it could not resist highlighting the “worrying connections” between a number of the 46 priests whose activities were investigated, in effect inviting readers to draw their own conclusions…
…If last week’s report meant we could draw a line under this scandal, then a proper debate on the role of the Catholic church in this country and the steps it must take to right the wrongs could take place. But the report cannot be the end of the investigative phase. Justice Murphy’s commission merely “sampled” the activities of a limited number of priests, so it cannot be regarded as comprehensive. A report from the diocese of Cloyne will be next and, depending on its findings, the pressure to investigate every diocese in the country may prove irresistible.
In the eyes of many, the reputation of the Catholic church is destroyed beyond repair. An Garda Siochana, whose own reputation needs some repairing, must take two steps. First, it has to come clean about its own role in assisting the cover-up of abuse. Then, taking the Murphy report as a starting point, it must investigate whether or not a paedophile ring was being operated in this country, with pervert priests acting under the auspices of the Catholic church. Read complete article - The Sunday Times – Times Online, November 29, 2009
Related links:
Child Protection Service of the Archdiocese of Dublin, November 2009
Report by Commission of Investigation into the handling by Church and State authorities of allegations and suspicions of child abuse against clerics of the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin. Read complete report->Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin
Murphy report is only the beginning – The Sunday Times – Times Online, November 29, 2009
Murphy Report: Background And Composition – by PATSY MCGARRY AND CAROL COULTER – The Irish Times – November 27, 2009
Pope 'led cover-up of child abuse by priests' – London Evening Standard – standard.co.uk
Irish Church accused of abuse cover-up – BBC News, 26 November 2009
Open letter to nuncio calls on pope to remove bishops – by GENEVIEVE CARBERY - The Irish Times
US Catholic Bishops threaten the moral 'fabric of society' and the sanctity Gay unions – 2009
Report: Homosexuality No Factor in Abusive Priests - By RACHEL ZOLL - ABC News – 2009
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