“There was a humility and a humanity about it that was intriguing and encouraging,” he said.
“We don’t know enough about this man yet but
one would hope we are facing into a period of more humility, more
humanity and more openness – that’s what we should at least hope for.”
Describing the new pontiff’s task as “enormous”, Mr O’Gorman said that at the same time, what was required was “not complex”.
“What he needs to do is acknowledge the truth.
We need to see a frank, open and honest acknowledgment of the global
cover-up of hundreds of thousands of children worldwide and the
Vatican’s role in that.
“The organisation must subject itself to
appropriate scrutiny and oversight and put in place meaningful child
protection practice that is enforced across the world with the same
vigour as that with which the cover-up was enforced. That’s incredibly
important.”
Tom Hayes, secretary of the Alliance Victim
Support Group, established in 1999 to meet the needs of individuals
abused as children in Ireland’s State-run residential institutions, said
his initial reaction was a positive one.
“Jesuits are powerful thinkers,” he said. “They
are very strong individuals and I believe that, hopefully, this man
will be able to tackle the child sex abuse issue within the church and
deal with the congregations who have borne the brunt of a great deal of
criticism, particularly within Ireland.”
He said Pope Francis’s apparent reluctance to indulge in pomp and glamour boded well for the Catholic Church.
“He is someone who is quite frugal within his
own living and that is something that will bring some new thinking into
the way the church hopefully might look in the future.”
He added: “I am hopeful, however, that he will
bring to bear strong views as to how the church should act and behave
towards the issue of child sex abuse.”
Campaigner and abuse survivor Andrew Madden
said he was surprised by the election of Pope Francis. “He wasn’t
somebody on my radar in terms of somebody who had commented on child sex
abuse within the church or the church’s handling of it,” he said.
“We have to wait and see how he handles the
issue going forward and what he has to say. It would be very odd if he
didn’t acknowledge the issue. How he handles further allegations and
members of the hierarchy involved in cover-ups will be one to watch.”
Mr Madden was critical of the new pope on
issues such as homosexuality and gay marriage.
“He seems to have been
very conservative around homosexuals and marriage equality, which is a
disappointing attitude.”
Campaigner Marie Collins, who was sexually
abused by a priest at the age of 13, said she would have to wait and see
what stance Pope Francis adopts on the issue of clerical sex abuse.
“We will have to see if he will follow his
predecessor or make bishops accountable for their actions. He has a huge
task in front of him. The child abuse crisis is still ongoing even if
people want to think it has passed.”
She added, however, that he “appears to be a humble man", which was “very welcome”.
“It will be his actions, however, that will be important to most people – and certainly to abuse survivors.”