The publication of the Cloyne report represents “another dark day in
the history of the response of church leaders to the cry of children
abused by church personnel,” the Catholic Primate of All Ireland
Cardinal Seán Brady has said.
In a statement released this
afternoon Dr Brady said the report confirms “grave errors” of judgement
occurred with serious “failures" of leadership.
“This is deplorable and totally unacceptable,” he said. “I apologise and express my shame and sorrow at what has happened.”
Although
Dr Brady said the current church environment for children “is a totally
different one to that of the past”, he called for the introduction of
legislation to support mandatory reporting of allegations of child
sexual abuse to the statutory authorities.
Dr Brady said one of
the positive aspects to come out of the report is the confirmation that
the church-established structures of review and accountability have been
proven to work effectively.
However, the report states that a
decision by the Vatican to brand a framework document on child sexual
abuse, agreed by the Irish Bishops Conference in 1996, as “not an
official document” effectively gave individual Irish bishops “the
freedom to ignore” the guidelines.
The Archbishop of Cashel and
Emly Dermot Clifford said he is appalled by the “depth of damage and
suffering” caused by a minority of clergy in the diocese.
“Great
pain was also caused to the families of those abused, whose strong
relationship with the catholic church was damaged or destroyed.”
Dr
Clifford said the fact that 13 years after church guidelines were put
in place they were still not being implemented in the diocese of Cloyne
meant authorities “failed” some of those who were abused.
Dr
Clifford, who was appointed Apostolic Administrator to the Cloyne
diocese after Bishop John Magee stepped aside in May 2009, apologised to
all who suffered and their families.
“It is a very sad day for
all the priests and people in the diocese of Cloyne…We sincerely hope
that our responses to complaints and the ongoing efforts in safeguarding
of children and vulnerable adults in the diocese will go some of the
way to atone for the grave failures of the past," he said. "Such
failures must never be permitted to happen again."
Bishop of Down
and Connor Noel Treanor said the report reminds the church of the need
to remain “vigilant and self critical” to ensure that there can be no
recurrence of these past “disgraceful failings”.
“No words of
apology from me for the culture of self protection in the Irish church
at the expense of survivors of abuse can, in themselves, ease the pain
of those who have suffered and continue to suffer as a result of the
abuses of the past…Nevertheless, I apologise once again to all those who
have suffered in any way.”
He added that the first duty of the
Church now is to listen to the “cry of survivors and help them to cope
with the continuing pain with which they have been burdened by the sins
of clergy.”
“Although much has been done to advance safeguarding
and many trained volunteers are now working very effectively in our
parishes, we still have a way to travel to regain the full trust of the
people,” he said.
In a statement Bishop of Kilmore Leo O'Reilly
said he felt a “great disappointment and dismay” that the authorities
failed to implement agreed procedures leaving children at risk.
“Their failure has compounded the suffering of those who have been abused and their families.”
He
said the report is a reminder of the necessity for bishops and those in
authority to be vigilant and pro-active in ensuring that the
safeguarding children procedures are “fully and consistently”
implemented in dioceses.
And he appealed for anyone with
information regarding child sexual abuse by priests in the Kilmore
diocese to make contact with a designated person, the Garda Síochána,
the Health Service Executive or a support service of their choice.