LEICESTER, United Kingdom – Until the abuse crisis is fully addressed, there will not be “authentic, enduring renewal and reform” in the Catholic Church, according to Archbishop Dermot Farrell, the Primate of Ireland.
Speaking at Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral in Dublin on Sep. 21, the archbishop spoke of a “culture of denial” with respect to sexual abuse.
“It is vital that we come to recognize the dynamics of denial, and address them. Not just the call of the gospel, but basic human justice, demands that we not dismiss the witness of those who suffered abuse, but recognize their continuing hurt and suffering, and begin to come to terms with the fact that this darkness has roots deep within ourselves,” Farrell said.
“When that darkness finds itself masked by outward displays of piety and exterior appearances of service, its destructive potential is amplified. Report after report, victim after victim, testifies to the horror unleashed by this manifestation of evil,” he added.
Earlier this month, the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders, and said there were 2,395 allegations of sexual abuse in respect of 308 schools recorded by the religious orders that ran those schools.
The allegations were made against 884 alleged abusers, around half of whom have died.
Most of the abuse cases occurred between the early 1960s and the early 1990s, with the highest number of reports happening in the early to mid-1970s.
“Sadly, it is not new to hear that there was widespread abuse of pupils and that shameful acts were perpetrated by religious themselves, as well as by teachers, peers, and others employed in their schools,” Farrell said.
“What was new was the presentation of an extensive, sustained and horrific pattern of abuse which has disfigured our tradition of Catholic education and profoundly damaged the lives of so many young people and their families,” he continued.
“Listening to the stark and distressing testimony of this, and other reports over the last 20 years is as painful and difficult, as the content of those reports is outrageous and scandalous. While some are filled with anger, others close their ears, or dismiss it, or explain it away, or blame the extensive coverage on hostility towards the Church, there is a thread of denial and disengagement in many of these responses,” the archbishop said.
“One of the greatest disempowering factors is that people feel that their contribution will make no difference. But that is to leave in place the veil that covers this horrific, life-destroying scandal,” he added.
Farrell then referenced the call for Synodality in the Church by Pope Francis, and how the pontiff asked dioceses across the world to examine how we follow Christ together.
The archbishop said in their response to Francis’s request, the Catholics in Ireland named the toll of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, along with its concealment as the most urgent issue to be addressed.
“The ordinary faithful of our land named it for what it is: An open wound,” he said.
“Those who took part in the listening and consultation meetings, including many survivors of abuse, named a huge sense of loss, compounded by an ongoing and understandable anger at the impact of abuse on survivors and on their families, on the many who, because of it, have grown distant from the Church, and on the many honest and generous women and men – religious and clergy – whose good work and lives of service have been betrayed,” Farrell continued.
“The seriousness with which we – all of us in the Church, all the baptized – address the abuse crisis is a real measure of the depth of our faith, and of our commitment to true justice, and to renewal in our Church,” the archbishop said.
“Until we truly own what has happened, the necessary change of heart will remain on the surface – and a superficial ‘change of heart,’ is no change of heart. In the Church, we are called to renew our commitment to make our Church, our parishes, our schools and all our activities safe for children and vulnerable adults, and to embrace the structures and accountability which that requires,” he said.
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