December 11, 2009. Upon receiving the head of the Irish bishops, the Pope has expressed his outrage and shame over the sexual abuse cases committed by priests in Ireland between 1975 and 2004.
For three years, a government commission was investigating the Archdiocese of Dublin and found hundreds of crimes were committed. The report accuses some bishops of protecting the perpetrators and not turning them in to police. The report also accused the Irish authorities of ignoring some complaints.
P. Federico Lombardi
Vatican Spokesperson
“The Pope expressed his grief and preoccupation and as well the willingness to help the Church to commit itself so that it does not happen anymore, abuses are a betrayal to the Church’s mission and to the testimony that it has to give.”
Card. Seán Brady
President, Episcopal Conference of Ireland
“He said they the Holy See would be following very closely to figure out how this tragedy took place and to ensure that measures are taken and to ensure it will never reoccur again.”
Mons. Diarmuid Martin
Archbishop of Dublín (Ireland)
“The experts will tell you the percentage of pedophiles in any society remain steady, constant this is a huge problem that has to be addressed and we’re addressing, other churches and the U.S particularly, to ensure that pedophiles don’t drift into system either as priests or any other church occupation.”
The pope has assured the victims that the Catholic Church will follow “this grave matter with the closest attention to better understand how these shameful events came to pass and how to make sure they don’t happen again.”
Benedict XVI has announced he will publish a Pastoral Letter, a special Papal document, with concrete initiatives that are to be taken in response to the situation.
MC/JMB
DC/FF
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