The sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic church took center stage a mere two hours after Pope Francis arrived in Dublin, Ireland on August 25. It was first raised in a surprisingly direct way by the Irish taoiseach (Prime Minister), Leo Varadkar, in his welcome speech at Dublin Castle and immediately afterwards by Francis in his address to 250 of the country’s civic and religious leaders and the diplomatic corps.
The taoiseach recalled that both the church and the state in the Irish republic “at times in the past have failed” victims of institutional and sexual abuse. He said, “The way the failures of both church and state and wider society created a bitter and broken heritage for so many, leaving a legacy of pain and suffering,” calling it “a history of sorrow and shame.”
“In place of Christian charity, forgiveness and compassion, far too often there was judgment, severity and cruelty, in particular towards women and children and those on the margins,” Mr. Varadkar continued. “Magdalene Laundries, Mother and Baby Homes, industrial schools, illegal adoption and clerical child abuse are stains on our state, our society and also on the Catholic church.” These wounds “are still open and there is much to be done to bring about justice and truth and healing for victims and survivors,” he said.
Mr. Varadkar appealed directly to the pope: “Holy Father, I ask you use your office and influence to ensure this is done here in Ireland and across the world.”
Leo Varadkar, Prime Minister of Ireland: “Above all, Holy Father, I ask you to listen to the victims.”
He mentioned the recent report from Pennsylvania detailing “brutal crimes perpetrated by people within the Catholic church and then obscured to protect the institution at the expense of innocent victims.” That story, he said, is “all too tragically familiar here in Ireland.”
He pleaded with the pope: “Above all, Holy Father, I ask you to listen to the victims.”
Mr. Varadkar was the second Irish taoiseach to raise the question of the church’s involvement in abuse and the need for the Vatican to respond in a constructive way, but he did so in a very different style from his predecessor, Enda Kenny. In 2011, Mr. Kenny openly attacked the Vatican its handling of the abuse question and for failing to cooperate with the Irish state investigation.
Speaking in Italian, Pope Francis said, “I am very conscious of the circumstances of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters.” He told his audience, including large numbers following by television and radio, that he was thinking “especially of those women and children who in the past have endured particularly difficult situations, the orphans of that time,” alluding to the tragic ordeals of Irish women and children who suffered in the 20th century in the institutions mentioned earlier by the Taoiseach, which were run by the church and religious orders at a time when the newly established Irish Free State was not able to do so.
Pope Francis added, “I cannot fail to acknowledge the grave scandal caused in Ireland by the abuse of young people by members of the church charged with responsibility for their protection and education,” meaning the countless minors who were sexually or otherwise abused by priests and religious in Ireland.
Pope Francis acknowledged that “the failure of ecclesiastical authorities—bishops, religious superiors, priests and others —adequately to address these repugnant crimes has rightly given rise to outrage, and remains a source of pain and shame for the Catholic community."
Pope Francis acknowledged that “the failure of ecclesiastical authorities—bishops, religious superiors, priests and others —adequately to address these repugnant crimes has rightly given rise to outrage and remains a source of pain and shame for the Catholic community. I myself share those sentiments.”
He recalled that Benedict XVI, in his Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland in 2010, “spared no words in recognizing both the gravity of the situation and in demanding that ‘truly evangelical, just and effective’ measures be taken in response to this betrayal of trust.”
“I reaffirmed the commitment—rather a greater commitment—to eliminate this plague in the church,” Francis continued, referring to his “Letter to the People of God” from earlier this week.
Francis said, “The church in Ireland, past and present, has played a role in promoting the welfare of children that cannot be obscured.” He added, “It is my hope that the gravity of the abuse scandals, which have cast light on the failings of many, will serve to emphasize the importance of the protection of minors and vulnerable adults on the part of society as a whole.”
It had been widely expected that Francis would address the abuse scandal in this first speech to the nation’s civic and religious authorities, but he did not offer any words of sorrow or ask forgiveness for these crimes, as he had in his letter earlier in the week.
His words today did not encourage Marie Collins, the well-known Irish survivor of abuse who resigned from Pope Francis' abuse advisory board in 2017, who described his speech as “disappointing and nothing new.”
Sources told America, however, that Francis will return again to the abuse question tomorrow when he visits the Marian shrine at Knock in Ireland’s County Mayo in the morning, and when he speaks to the Irish bishops before returning to Rome later that day. His words are sure to be scrutinized not only by victims of abuse, the Irish people and its government, but also by the more than 1,200 journalists from many countries that have come here to report on the visit.
Both Pope Francis and Mr. Varadkar also addressed other issues, including the peace process in Northern Ireland, where the political parties have been unable to form a coalition government for more than 18 months.
Francis, who will address the World Meeting of Families later today in Dublin's Croke Park at an event in which 70,000 people from 103 countries will participate, also talked about families—“the glue of society”—and emphasized that “their welfare cannot be taken for granted, but must be promoted and protected by every appropriate means.” But all too often, he said, “we feel impotent before the persistent evils of racial and ethnic hatred, intractable conflicts and violence, contempt for human dignity and for fundamental human rights, and the growing divide between rich and poor.”
The Irish economy is flourishing, with a 7 percent growth rate and close to full employment, but Francis acknowledged that many remain excluded: “Can we say that the goal of creating economic prosperity leads of itself to a more just and equitable social order? Or could it be that the growth of a materialistic ‘throwaway culture’ has in fact made us increasingly indifferent to the poor and to the most defenseless members of our human family, including the unborn, deprived of the very right to life?”
He told his audience that “perhaps the most disturbing challenges to our consciences in these days is the massive refugee crisis, which will not go away, and whose solution calls for a wisdom, a breadth of vision and a humanitarian concern that go far beyond short-term political decisions.”
Pope Francis: “Even in Ireland’s darkest hours,” its inhabitants found their faith "a source of the courage and commitment needed to forge a future of freedom and dignity, justice and solidarity.”
Pope Francis noted that Ireland and the Holy See have enjoyed good relations for almost 90 years, with “only an occasional cloud on the horizon.” The latter was a reference to the Irish government’s decision in 2011 to close its embassy to the Holy See as a result of the lack of Vatican cooperation with its investigations into the abuse by priests and religious. In recent times, however, Francis said, “intensive endeavor and goodwill on both sides have contributed significantly to a promising renewal of those friendly relations for the mutual benefit of all.”
He concluded by recalling the history of Christianity in this land for over 1500 years and how “even in Ireland’s darkest hours” the inhabitants of this country “found in that faith a source of the courage and commitment needed to forge a future of freedom and dignity, justice and solidarity.” Pope Francis prayed that “Ireland, in listening to the polyphony of contemporary political and social discussion, will not be forgetful of the powerful strains of the Christian message that have sustained it in the past, and can continue to do so in the future.”
““In place of Christian charity, forgiveness and compassion, far too often there was judgment, severity and cruelty, in particular towards women and children and those on the margins,” Mr. Varadkar continued. “Magdalene Laundries, Mother and Baby Homes, industrial schools, illegal adoption and clerical child abuse are stains on our state, our society and also on the Catholic church.” These wounds “are still open and there is much to be done to bring about justice and truth and healing for victims and survivors,” he said.”
Stupendous! Great courage of respect and humility by the Prime Minister all the while imploring the Holy Father to act. Mavelous!
Notice how homosexuals were not blamed but rather abuse of power, i.e. clericalism
Clericalism is the evil not homosexuals. Anyone who denies clericalism is the problem is enabling the evil that these church figures commit. Pride is the thing. No surprise here
Are the nuns who ran and or were part of these, industrial schools and illegal adoptions, and Magdalene laundries and Mother and Baby Homes where actual murders and much horrific physical and emotional abuse of children and teens occurred, considered clergy? Either way; whether nuns are considered clergy or not, the depraved crimes these nuns committed for so long, shows that abuse of power is not a predominately or exclusively a male thing, i.e. MALE clericalism, as many claim it is.
Imagine if Pope Francis had had the cajones to tell the Prime Minister of Ireland that just as the Church has apologized for the sexual abuse and cover up that occurred in Ireland, Ireland should now apologize to the Church for their voting to legalize abortion[lol]