The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, addressing the faithful of his diocese
during mass Sunday appealed to priests and laypeople not to be become “frustrated
or indifferent”.
A letter from the apostolic administrator of Cloyne, Archbishop
Dermot Clifford, was read in parishes throughout Ireland Sunday as Catholics came
to grips with the aftermath of the government commissioned report into the handling
of abuse in the diocese.
Since the report’s publication Wednesday public anger
has been mounting. On Thursday the government convoked the Apostolic Nuncio Giuseppe
Leanza, who stated he was “very distressed that again there have been failures in
assuring the protection of children in the church despite all the good work that has
been done”.
Speaking to believers in Dublin’s pro-cathedral Sunday Archbishop
Martin said that the former Church authorities in Cloyne, had put themselves “beyond
the norms the current Pope had promulgated for the entire Church” and that the “Church
can never rest until the day in which the last victim has found his or her peace”.
Although
Archbishop Martin stated that “the Catholic Church in Ireland is a much safer place
today than it was even in the recent past,” he admitted that the Church has not yet
“learned the lessons” from mistakes made in handling the sex abuse crisis.
He
expressed his anger that children had been put at risk well after the Bishop’s guidelines
were in place.
He insisted that “those in Church and State who have acted
wrongly or inadequately should assume accountability,” but maintained that “those
priests who have ministered untarnished and generously over years – indeed for an
entire lifetime - should not be made scapegoats and objects of hate.”
He said
“Priests deserve recognition for the good they do and they need the support of their
people. I appeal to those priests who have become demoralised and half-hearted not
to give in to cynicism but to heed the Lord’s call to renewal and conversion”.
Archbishop
Martin also called on the government to respect the rights of believers as enshrined
in the nation’s 1916 Proclamation of Independence. He said “a republic is not indifferent
to the faith of its citizens”, “a republic respects the specific rights of believers”.
He
conceded that “great damage has been done to the credibility of the Church in Ireland”
and repeated that the role of the Church in Irish society will only be regained by
the Church being more truly what the Church is”. Listen: