POPE BENEDICT XVI was “scandalised and dismayed’’ by the tragedy of clerical child abuse in Ireland, the new papal nuncio, Archbishop Charles John Brown, said last Sunday.The pope knew that recent years had been difficult for Irish Catholic believers, the nuncio said.
“He felt deeply the wounds of those who had been harmed and who so often had not been listened to.’’
The pope, he said, was resolute and determined to put into place changes that would give the church the ability to deal more effectively with those who abused trust, as well as provide the necessary assistance to those who had been victimised.
“Pope Benedict has been relentless and consistent on this front, and I assure you that he will continue to be.’’
The nuncio was speaking at a liturgical reception hosted for him at the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin.
The Manhattan-born former monsignor, who worked at the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1994, said he represented various realities.
“I am the descendent of men and women of Ireland, who emigrated from this island, possessing little more than the treasure of their Catholic faith, which they, through the generations, have passed on to me,’’ he said. “Were it not for the faith of Ireland, I would not be a Catholic today.’’
He recalled he had worked with the then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, in the Roman Curia, the central administration of the Catholic Church.
He said he was “a newly ordained bishop of the Catholic Church and, as such, with all my limitations and defects, a successor of the Apostles”.
He was standing before the people principally as the representative of the Bishop of Rome and the successor of the Apostle Peter, he said.
“In his name, I greet you all and I bring you his best wishes for all the people of Ireland, for the Government, and all members of the diplomatic community.’’
The pope always had, and continued to have, a great love of Ireland and a high regard for the Catholic Church in Ireland, with its history of missionary richness and tenacious faith.
The nuncio said that next June’s Eucharistic Congress in Ireland would be a very significant event, not only for the Irish church but the universal church. He said it had been “carefully and creatively’’ organised and prepared.
The gathering would renew the faith in the reality at the absolute centre of Catholic life: the real presence of Christ himself in the Eucharist.
“Ultimately, it is renewed faith and love for the Lord in the Eucharist that will renew our lives and renew the life of the church,’’ he added.
In his address of welcome, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said some had noted that the nuncio was an American and a native English speaker, as if that were something new.
He was actually the fourth nuncio to come to Ireland from the United States.
The ceremony was attended by Minister for Health Dr James Reilly, representing the Government; Brig Gen Michael Finn, representing the Army; several ambassadors; representatives of other churches; and officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs.