THE CATHOLIC Church has acknowledged “with a great sense of shame” that “innocent young people were abused by clerics and religious” in Ireland. Those “who should have exercised vigilance often failed to do so effectively”, it said.
Its acknowledgement of this “terrible phenomenon” came yesterday in a summary of reports prepared by seven teams sent by the Vatican to conduct an unprecedented examination of the island’s four Catholic archdioceses, seminaries, and religious congregations.
They made several recommendations and said it was up to the Irish church to implement the findings of the visitation teams, whose work “should now be considered completed”.
They called on Irish church authorities to continue to devote time to listening to and providing support for victims and their families.
The 7½-page report was published in Maynooth yesterday at a press conference attended by the Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady, the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, the papal nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown and the secretary general of the Conference of Religious of Ireland Sr Marianne O’Connor.
The visitation report called on the Irish church to update its child protection guidelines in accordance with those published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome last May.
It said the Irish church’s child protection watchdog, the National Board for Safeguarding Children, should be supported by “bishops, religious superiors and the whole community of the church in Ireland”.
Where Irish seminaries were concerned “the seminary buildings [should] be exclusively for seminarians of the local church . . . to ensure a well-founded priestly identity”.
There should be “more systematic preparation for a life of priestly celibacy . . . more consistent admission criteria . . . greater concern for intellectual formation” including “an academic programme [of] in-depth formation on matters of child protection”.
It advised religious congregations to focus over the next three years on their “fundamental sources, particularly the following of Christ as revealed in the scriptures”.
They and the bishops should ensure “concrete collaboration in the field of safeguarding children”.
They should look at formulating guidelines for cases where the DPP does not bring charges against a member of the clergy, for those falsely accused and for the care of convicted clergy.
It calls for greater collaboration “among bishops, religious and laity” as “only a united church can be an effective witness to Christ in the world”.
It says “a careful review is needed of the training given to teachers of religion . . . to ensure a sound and well-balanced education”.
More controversially it comments on a tendency “fairly widespread among priests . . . to hold theological opinions at variance with the teachings of the Magisterium [Rome].” This “serious situation requires particular attention”.
It also said there was “a great need for the Irish Catholic community to make its voice heard in the media”.
Cardinal Brady described the summary report as “a helpful snapshot of a key moment on the ongoing journey of renewal, and a signpost to future priorities and directions”.
Archbishop Martin said the extent of abuse that had happened in the church was “shattering” and those who were abused “should be foremost in our minds”.
Asked about proposals for change in the formation of seminarians, he said that “as a trustee of Maynooth I would be very careful to see we do not have a system which would build a new clericalism . . . ”
Sr Marianne O’Connor of Cori said the report encouraged “all elements of the church to look again at the Gospel that has inspired our lives”.
Papal nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown described the Pope as “outstanding” in his desire and efforts to address clerical sexual abuse issues.
The One in Four group expressed disappointment that the Vatican had failed once more to acknowledge that its interventions had allowed church leaders in Ireland to ignore guidelines on child protection.
