Irish archbishops protected reputation at expense of victims, report says – AP Associated Press – November, 26, 2009
DUBLIN - The Roman Catholic Church in Dublin covered up decades of child abuse committed by priests because bishops wanted to protect the church's reputation at the expense of victims, an expert commission reported Thursday after a three-year probe into previously secret church records.
Abuse victims said they welcomed publication of the probe into the mishandling of 1975-2004 child-abuse cases in the Dublin Archdiocese, home to a quarter of Ireland's 4 million Catholics. But they said government and church leaders still had far to go to compensate for past wrongs.
The government said the investigation "shows clearly that a systemic, calculated perversion of power and trust was visited on helpless and innocent children in the archdiocese."
"The perpetrators must continue to be brought to justice, and the people of Ireland must know that this can never happen again," said the government, which also apologized for the state's failure to hold church authorities accountable to the law.
This is the second major government-ordered report this year exploring how and why Irish authorities permitted widespread abuse of boys and girls at the hands of the Catholic Church throughout most of the 20th century, the gravest scandal in the history of independent Ireland. Read complete article - World Faith – msnbc.com
Related links:
Irish Catholic Church covered up child abuse, report says – CNN.com
Pope ‘led cover-up of child abuse… London Evening Standard - standard.co.uk
Pope summons bishops over abuse report - CNN International - Hada Messia
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