(31 May 10 – RV) Following the Holy Father’s Letter to the Catholics of Ireland, the
Apostolic Visitation of certain Irish dioceses, seminaries and religious congregations
will begin in autumn of this year.
Through this Visitation, the Holy See intends
to offer assistance to the Bishops, clergy, religious and lay faithful as they seek
to respond adequately to the situation caused by the tragic cases of abuse perpetrated
by priests and religious upon minors. It is also intended to contribute to the desired
spiritual and moral renewal that is already being vigorously pursued by the Church
in Ireland.
The Apostolic Visitors will set out to explore more deeply questions
concerning the handling of cases of abuse and the assistance owed to the victims;
they will monitor the effectiveness of and seek possible improvements to the current
procedures for preventing abuse, taking as their points of reference the Pontifical
Motu Proprio “Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela” and the norms contained in Safeguarding
Children: Standards and Guidance Document for the Catholic Church in Ireland, commissioned
and produced by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church.
The Visitation will begin in the four Metropolitan Archdioceses of Ireland
(Armagh, Dublin, Cashel and Emly, and Tuam) and will then be extended to some other
dioceses.
The Visitors named by the Holy Father for the dioceses are: His
Eminence Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Emeritus Archbishop of Westminster, for
the Archdiocese of Armagh; His Eminence Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, Archbishop
of Boston, for the Archdiocese of Dublin; the Most Reverend Thomas Christopher Collins,
Archbishop of Toronto, for the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly; the Most Reverend Terrence
Thomas Prendergast, Archbishop of Ottawa, for the Archdiocese of Tuam.
In its
desire to accompany the process of renewal of houses of formation for the future priests
of the Church in Ireland, the Congregation for Catholic Education will coordinate
the visitation of the Irish seminaries, including the Pontifical Irish College in
Rome. While special attention will be given to the matters that occasioned the Apostolic
Visitation, in the case of the seminaries it will cover all aspects of priestly formation.
The Most Reverend Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, has been named Apostolic
Visitor.
For its part, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life
and Societies of Apostolic Life will organize the visitation of religious houses in
two phases. Firstly it will conduct an enquiry by means of a questionnaire to be
sent to all the Superiors of religious institutes present in Ireland, with a view
to providing an accurate picture of the current situation and formulating plans for
the observance and improvement of the norms contained in the “guidelines”. In the
second phase, the Apostolic Visitors will be: the Reverend Joseph Tobin, CSsR and
the Reverend Gero McLaughlin SJ for institutes of men; Sister Sharon Holland IHM
and Sister Mairin McDonagh RJM for institutes of women. They will carry out a careful
study, evaluating the results obtained from the questionnaire and the possible steps
to be taken in the future in order to usher in a season of spiritual rebirth for religious
life on the Island.
His Holiness invites all the members of the Irish Catholic
community to support this fraternal initiative with their prayers. He invokes God’s
blessings upon the Visitors, and upon all the Bishops, clergy, religious and lay faithful
of Ireland, that the Visitation may be for them an occasion of renewed fervour in
the Christian life, and that it may deepen their faith and strengthen their hope in
Christ our Saviour.