The Irish Times – Friday, December 18, 2009
MARY RAFTERY
ANALYSIS: Bishop Murray’s resignation statement shows he has moved backwards in terms of facing up to his own culpability
AN ANALYSIS of the language used by the Bishop of Limerick in his statement yesterday is revealing. It begs a key question: why precisely does Donal Murray believe he is resigning? He gives us only a single reason, namely his belief that his continuation in office will cause “difficulties” for “some” survivors of abuse.
While he adds the usual, standard humble apology to victims, and various calls to pray for them, he nowhere makes even the slightest acknowledgment that he personally has done anything even remotely wrong or mistaken.
In other words, Bishop Murray is leaving office not because he considers he has any responsibility for wrongdoing or cover-up in the Dublin archdiocese during his period as auxiliary bishop there (1982-1996), but because “some” people might have a difficulty if he stayed.
It seems clear from the above that, in his own mind at least, the bishop now views himself as a sacrificial lamb, a martyr for the greater good of the Roman Catholic Church. What is remarkable is that his path to this point has followed a clear pattern of diminishing contrition. He was more willing seven years ago to acknowledge his failures than he has been in recent weeks.
In 2002, in the wake of the exposure by the RTÉ television Prime Time programme Cardinal Secrets of his failure to act to protect children from serial paedophile Fr Thomas Naughton, he did accept he had made mistakes and that these had had disastrous consequences.
He acknowledged that had he acted differently, “it might have been possible to prevent some of the dreadful suffering of child abuse. I very much wish that I had been able to do so. It is a matter of the greatest regret to me that I did not manage at that time to get to the root of the problem.”
Then, last month, in the immediate wake of the publication of the Murphy report, Bishop Murray stated the following: “As for me, if there are cases where the abuse of children might have been prevented had I acted differently, I offer to them my sincerest apology.”
It is important here to note the slippage indicated by the use of the word “if”. No longer is the contrition unconditional – the passage of time has allowed its edge to be dulled and the bishop to introduce doubts as to whether there were any real failings on his part.
And yesterday, even such scant reference to failings was absent. Bishop Murray has come full circle. The problem now lies not with himself, but with the difficulties of others.
It is an interesting trajectory and the reverse of the norm, where there is a more usual progression from complete denial to some form of acknowledgment and contrition. Despite his resignation, the bishop is actually moving backwards.
And he is not alone. It is interesting to contrast the statement responding to the Murphy report issued by all the bishops last week with the individual responses of the still-serving senior clerics named in that report.
The bishops collectively accepted some degree of responsibility, stating that they were “shamed by the extent to which child sexual abuse was covered up in the Archdiocese of Dublin, and recognise that this indicates a culture that was widespread in the church”.
Contrast this, however, with the statement yesterday from Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin Dr Jim Moriarty, who was an auxiliary in Dublin from 1991 to 2002. While he offers to resign, it is not in acknowledgment of any wrongdoing, but rather for “the good of the church”. Again, we see the seeds of a martyr complex. Bishop Moriarty explicitly states that he has no case to answer, but will go “if it will serve the church”.
It should be remembered that the Murphy commission was critical of Bishop Moriarty’s failure to properly investigate complaints brought to him in 1993 about Fr Edmondus, the priest who had abused Marie Collins in Crumlin children’s hospital.
Bishop Éamonn Walsh, auxiliary in Dublin since 1990, has been most active in his own defence, even hinting that his attempts to report crimes to the civil authorities were in some way thwarted by the diocese. As he appears to be referring to a case absent from the Murphy report in this regard, it is difficult to verify what precisely happened.
Bishop Walsh of course makes no reference to all the other cases he must have been aware of as a result of his attendance at the regular monthly meetings of Dublin bishops. There is no evidence of any attempts on his part to inform the Garda of these cases.
Bishop Martin Drennan of Galway has been busy attempting to emphasise that he also has no case to answer. With somewhat misplaced complacency, he has said he is comfortable with the Murphy report as it “says nothing negative about me”.
However, as an auxiliary in Dublin from 1997 to 2005, he, together with all of the others, shared in the cover-up. He has much in common in this regard with Bishop Ray Field, who was consecrated in the same year, and remains an auxiliary in Dublin.
Dr Field has stated that “if I felt that I did anything wrong I would resign, of course, but I don’t believe I’ve done anything wrong . . . I think it would be wrong, actually, of me to resign under those circumstances.”
He also managed to flatly contradict himself in almost the same sentence – no doubt a useful variant of the principle of mental reservation. He stated that he disputed one of the conclusions of the Murphy report – that in 2003 he had failed to pass on full information relating to concerns about Fr Benito to his parish priest – and then promptly added that he fully accepted all of the findings of the report.
It is no doubt this flexibility of intellect that allows him to maintain his innocence of any wrongdoing, despite the fact that he also attended those monthly meetings at which complaints against abusing priests were discussed by the bishops, but not passed on to the Garda.
This is not simply a matter of guilt by association. Each individual bishop had an overriding personal duty to pass on to the Garda any knowledge they possessed of crimes against children. It is crystal clear from the Murphy report that as a result of their monthly meetings, all of the Dublin bishops did have such knowledge in a number of cases and failed miserably to perform their duty – not just as moral arbiters of society, but as ordinary citizens of the State.
It is instructive in this regard to note that in the midst of all their protestations, not a single bishop has so far denied the assertion that he had information on clerical child sexual abuse which he failed to pass to the Garda. Every single one of them has refused to accept any individual responsibility for this cover-up.
Several more may well resign. Martyrdom and sacrifice will doubtless be the order of the day. But until each bishop unreservedly accepts his own individual fault for colluding in the cover-up, such resignations are a pale substitute for true contrition.
Mary Raftery is a freelance journalist
I have been quiet for some weeks now; I just cannot believe what has been happening; the publication of the Murphy Report has changed nothing; in fact there is so much madness and nastiness in the background that this whole show doesn’t even qualify as a Farce; it is truly a Tragedy.
When was it the right time to make a comment Paddy? At the beginning, in the middle? Now seems just as right. I suppose I feel Dispair and Huge Sadness for the Victims, as well as the “Condition of the Irish People as a Whole”.
We saw a Pope remaining totally silent for weeks; Bishops saying they’ve done nothing wrong; and our Politicians every bit as bad, only one step behind them. What is wrong with these people? The lack of leadership from the Pope was obvious and insane. Why are the bishops so cocky? Is there some kind of blackmail at play? Or is it the case that the Church people have become so warped that they just don’t know how abnormal their thinking and behaviour is?
The day that Bishop Murray stood down saw the very priest he had been accused of sheltering being put away and jailed by the Law; timing is everything. We’ve also had another priest LEAD the pack in Listowel to offer support to yet another man convicted for raping and maiming his Victim. And then Benedict has the nerve to elevate his predecessor John-Paul: Sainthood for the man who presided over these crimes!! This is just UNBELIEVABLE.
So now is just as good a time as any, following last night Front Line program (21st Dec). In it we saw our friend Michael O’Brien calling on the Church, the State and the Law to get together once and for all and sort it all out. Regretfully, the Main Factor in this equation – the main ingredient in this recipe for Disaster, is still missing, as blatantly and obviously AS EVER since the Ryan Report: and that is THE IRISH PEOPLE. THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF IRELAND. Who would have thought that Nothing Was Going to Change 6 months ago? Please don’t tell me “There is such Outrage”…. Then there was that elderly priest on the show who welcomed the present crisis in the Church, saying that the old ways were gone and a new Church was to emerge: and How? He said he didn’t know, and would have to take his cue from the Victims on the panel (Michael and the lady in the audience)…. So: THERE was a man who had not Heard, not Felt and not Understoood a thing since May and had no capacity for Compassion. And HE was the most and best-intentioned we had heard so far….
I used to believe that Religions, were the cause of all wars and evil. I see now that the real culprit is the GOD-THING itself. For 2010, I would like to see the Papal Cross torn down from the Phoenix Park.
And to all the Victims, I want to extend my Unconditional Sympathy, and Condemnation of the Crimes perpetrated against them; all these years ago, and DAILY STILL in all the ways that our Society is failing them.
The Pope as leader of the Catholic Church is very aware of the situation in Ireland. He like his followers have chosen to ignore this unimportant situation for how many years now?. They believed it would all go away with a few prayers. Wrong.
Survirors could perhaps use their energy more wisely by electing their chosen Group Leaders, then dealing with the Irish Government, who would act on behalf of the Survivors with no more secret deals.
The Religious have always been masters in transfering guilt.
In return I hope you’ll be able to share at least a good appreciating grin over a Dublin priest and John Kelly, from Irish Survivors of Child Abuse as well :-)
Friday December 18 2009
Catholics are being urged to send a Christmas message to the Pope demanding he take action over the country’s child abuse scandal.
A survivor of institutional abuse revealed he will be using a new online service launched by the Vatican to demand the Pontiff reform the church and apologise to the people of Ireland.
John Kelly, from Irish Survivors of Child Abuse, believes few Irish Catholics will be sending goodwill greetings through the internet.
“The victims of abuse and many Irish people feel deeply let down,” said Mr Kelly.
“I will be saying ‘Your Holiness, Please show me leadership, please intervene in what’s going on in the Irish Catholic Church and please remove those princes of the Irish Catholic Church whose behaviour has to be questioned’.”
Mr Kelly said he will also demand that a motion is set to reform the Catholic Church and visit Ireland to apologise and seek forgiveness.
The initiative was unveiled by Monsignor Paul Tighe, a Dublin priest who was promoted to become one of the Vatican’s most senior media advisers two years ago.
The service allows web surfers to send online Christmas greetings to Pope Benedict XVI through the Pope2You portal, which is run by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
Maeve Lewis, of support group One In Four, said the number of victims seeking help has escalated since the publication of two damning reports into clerical abuse.
“I would urge Irish Catholics to send a card to the Pope, but in it to express the distress, anger and frustration so many devout Catholics feel at the findings of the Dublin Report and the wholly inadequate response of the Irish hierarchy and the Vatican to it,” she added.
Press Association
( http://www.pope2you.net/index.php?id_testi=11 )
Thanks Martha, for a real good laugh.
Isn’t it great that -fully insane – human ability ours to believe? ;-)
Mary Raftery says:
“… in his own mind at least, the bishop now views himself as a sacrificial lamb, a martyr for the greater good of the Roman Catholic Church.”
Isn’t that what being a ‘Good Catholic’ (bishop or not) is all about?
Normal people (adults) with all their human faults and failings, don’t dedicate their one and only precious life to total strangers, i.e., people who know nothing about them and care less about them.
Only the totally moronic or the totally mad are THAT egotistical, ie., INSANE!
I admire Mary Raftery, but I think she’s wasting too much of her time and energy (her life) trying to prove these mad Catholic bishops, and their followers, are wrong. She knows they have done wrong, as I and many others do too – but they will NEVER admit to their “sins”! So why waste one’s precious life arguing with such horrible wrong-doers?
Once again Mary delivers a crushing analysis of the warped mental landscape these bishops live in. It’s breathtaking to read” If I did any wrong I would resign, I don’t believe I did any wrong, Therefore it would be wrong of me to resign. There you have it in black and white. The children don’t matter, the truth does not matter, only the “good of the church” and the good of himself. How can these dwarfs of men sway so much power over the lives of millions of Irish people?. Is there any way of ridding Ireland of these psychopaths?.
Hi Paddy, just tell Mary Raftery how much I admire her. Keep it up Mary, you’re a powerful bit of stuff! Thanks for your clarity of thought and total awareness – God bless you girl.
“Bishop calls to pray for them.”
That has to be the joke of the Universe Paddy.
Who shall we pray to.? The same “God” that the Catholic Cult worships? I do not think so.
“a martyr for the greater good of the Roman Catholic Church.”
Once again Paddy – we see the brainwashing of the people where they are expected to believe the bishop is a martyr and will in some way be rewarded by the cruel “God” the cult worships.
Notice also the cognitive projection of the Bishop’s own guilt onto the people.
Talk about twisting words to suit their own purpose.
” “the good of the church”- oh yes, it is always the good of the church like Hitler and the good of the Motherland- same old tune.
What is the church exactly????
Yes, it is a corporation- a business- making a profit from the misery of human beings- and a deliberately created misery at that, because without our pain, suffering and misery, the Patriarchal church is out of business.
Every war on this planet was fought in the name of this God.
Every child who was abused was abused in the name of this God.
Strange that no one has ever seen this “God”.