Pope: 'eagerly desires' renewal for 'beloved Church in Ireland'
Pope Benedict XVI 'eagerly desires' renewal for the 'beloved Church in Ireland', where
many people have “experienced a loss of trust” in the Church as a result of abuse
of minors by clergy, stated a Summary of the Findings of the Apostolic Visitation
to the Church in Ireland, published Tuesday.
The seven page Summary was
presented to the public at the Columba Centre in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth by
Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin Sr Marianne O'Connor representing
Irish Religious and papal nuncio to Ireland Archbishop Charles Brown. Listen to
Emer McCarthy's report:
Ultimately
'pastoral' in nature and in tone, the Visitation Summary is, in essence, a document
of proposals to the Irish Church as it continues in its efforts towards renewal. It
states that during their stay in Ireland, the 7 teams charged with Visiting the Church
there were able to see just how much the shortcomings of the past gave rise to an
inadequate understanding of and reaction to the terrible abuse of minors. It re-iterates
the “great sense of pain and shame”, that must be acknowledged by Church authorities.
It notes the "very moving penitential liturgies in the cathedrals" held to address
the issue of abuse within the Church and seek forgiveness from God and from victims.
But the Visitators – who included Cardinal Sean O’ Malley of Boston, New York
Cardinal Tim Dolan, Toronto Cardinal Tom Collins and British Cardinal Cormac Murphy
O’ Connor - also have words of praise for the “progressive steps” that have been taken
since the 1990’s; for the efforts to ensure safeguarding procedures are being strictly
followed; for the Bishops, priests and religious, who live out their vocation in an
"exemplary way", despite feeling unjustly tainted by association with the accused
in the court of public opinion.
Then the Visitators make some proposals on
where they see room for improvement in the Irish Church.
Among them: A new
focus on the role of laity; the recommendation that the bishops consider 'adapting'
diocesan structures to meet current needs; the great need for the Irish Church to
establish a 'proper relationship' with media.
But the overarching emphasis
is on formation and communion. The formation of future priests, fidelity to Church
teaching of current priests, religious and theologians. The Visitators observe that
when in Ireland, they encountered “a certain tendency, not dominant but nevertheless
fairly widespread among priests, Religious and laity, to hold theological opinions
at variance with the teachings of the Magisterium this serious situation requires
particular attention, directed principally towards improved theological formation.
It must be stressed that dissent from the fundamental teachings of the Church is not
the authentic path towards renewal”.
So they propose a re-evaluation of the
pastoral program, the reinforcement of structures of Episcopal governance over the
seminaries and the introduction of more consistent admission criteria.
And
communion between the many Church realities in Ireland, between bishops themselves,
bishops and priests, religious and ordinary Catholics in the pews, because as the
Visitators observe, “only a united Church can be an effective witness to Christ in
the world”.
The Visitation was called for by Pope Benedict in his 2010 Letter
to Catholics in Ireland following revelations of reports into the handling of cases
of abuse by the Church there. It was conducted bin the four Irish Archdiocese - Armagh,
Dublin, Cashel and Emly and Tuam – as well as among religious congregations and seminaries
early 2011.