Last month the Roman Catholic Church finally published its long-awaited investigation into clerical child abuse in Ireland, with the Vatican stating it was both dismayed and betrayed at the “sinful and criminal acts” by Catholic clergy who were involved in child abuse across the country.
The report, which recommended a new and clear focus on the Catholic Church laity within Ireland, also highlighted some of the consequences of the actions of the perpetrators, including the abuse of “innocent young people” by men of God who were supposed to care for them.
But while the report admitted that “those who should have exercised vigilance often failed to do so effectively”, there was no mention of the role the Vatican played in the cover-up of the child sex scandal which has brought the Catholic Church in Ireland to its knees.
While we acknowledge that the goalposts have shifted in terms of the Catholic clergy’s relationship with children, there is no guarantee that it would never happen again. It is not enough to introduce stricter rules and regulations in the way seminarians are trained. But we strongly believe that a total reorientation of both serving and student priests is necessary. And that includes teaching them about sinful acts and their consequences.
We call on the Vatican to use the opportunity offered by the Irish situation to investigate the behaviour of its priests in other parts of the world, especially in developing countries where clerical child abuse is not yet recognised. To do nothing about this would mean the lessons learned from the Irish situation are a waste.
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