Thursday February 25 2010
Letters to the Editor, Irish Independent.
As a survivor of child abuse, I do not share the sentiments of some fellow survivors — who appear unable to come to terms with their tragic lives and are happy to play out their pain on radio and TV.
I don’t know what the survivors or media expected Pope Benedict to say or do. Even if he had made a full apology, it would not have been enough.
I have come to terms with my abuse. Nobody can live on the stale bread of hate without being consumed by it.
It is only through forgiveness that healing can begin to effect its power over a broken soul. Picked scabs never heal.
If survivors got the opportunity to meet Pope Benedict in private, a civilised discussion and a meeting of minds would bring comfort and healing.
Michael Clemenger
Paddy & Andrew and All,
I just wanted to endorse the many good points here and particularly Andrews comments on Ratzingers May 2001 order to his organisation.
It is important to bear in mind that Ratzinger has issued an instruction to conceal serious crime and frustrate investigation by the authorities in all nations in relation to their citizens as victims or serious crime.
As Andrew points out, the order contains detailed strategies to and instructions for collusion in crime which reveal a very sinister and cynical mind and church project. It would be very hard to avoid prosecution were it to be placed before a serious and impartial court, I feel.
If an individual would bring a case in a national court against Ratzinger for directing crime or civil action or some such similar charge, coud then a warrant be served on ratzinger to attend. It is entirely likely that he would fail to attend and as a result he could be tried in abstentia and in likely absense of defence, a court could/might have to rule for his arrest.
The summons would have to be served personally on the pope but that could be arranged. There are services which specialise in this type of delivery.
IN absence of his personal attendance, then perhaps a warrant would have to be issued which may be executed anywhere in the EU. If tried in abstentia, then a warrant may have to be issued for his imprisonment.
This might all seem fantasy now, but 20 years ago so was the thought that priests could be pedophiles back by a sponsoring organisation headed by a cardinal honing his career on serous crime.
Ratzinger will live for another few years at most. As with most of the major criminals of his time, it may be a race against time to get him alive.
But the seed is now sown for this by the many who discuss/have discussed this proposal.
During the Spanish civil war in the 30’s, the role of the local priest was to finger the non conformist citizens to the Franco forces , (communists, socialists, humanists of various moderate kinds including non catholics). This was often done in the same was as it was done in the streets in Germany around the same period. People would be denounced by the priests and carted off to ‘prison’ never to be seen again. Today in Spain or at least over the last few years, many mass graves have been found with thousands of these fingered citizens. This is what Rome does, this is how it gets power, it forms alliances in order to survive and grow. It has always done this. Most of us are in no doubt as to what depths rome and its local gauleiters are happy to go to.
For some people, seeking to invite a pope to Irland may be perceived to bring some possible end to the awfullness of the truth, in some way to offer a possibility to say, it never really happened or to rationalise it as ‘systems failure’ or along those lines. For some victims this will be acceptable.
For others, such a visit would have a very different meaning, it would represent a attempt to deny the truth, to seek popular consent to subjugate Irish people again fully, to refresh old allegiances. To reassert the power of the local cleric over all and their children.
Personally, I dont feel such a visit would be very successfull in achieving any of this as we no longer live in the age where truth cannnot be hidden and given the nature of mans 1st perogative to protect offspring generally then popular sentiment is likley to be short lived given what the public know now about abuse.
Still its important to make it known that many Irish people nowadays do not give a rats arse for that vile old codger in Rome and his dirty little enterprise.
For example, citizens could ask for non cooperation. Air Traffic controllers could boycott handling of his flight, gardai could refuse to work overtime or police crowds, govt officials could refuse to meet(ok thats far fetched), TV technicians strike, advance protests, (remember Reagans visit), european interest groups could be asked to protest, womens groups, free hang the pope Tee shirts, orange order might like to do some drumming tunes,
offer volumes of free spirits to the clerics so they are all pissed and make arses of themselves during the visit, other non religious and religious groups such as muslim migt like to assist….in fact what is needed would be a national protest day.
OGGY, OGGY, OGGY….what do we want….
CLERICS OUT, CLERICS OUT.
Oh yes, lets invite him all right and make the French riots of 2006 look like a tea party.
Why should I wish to meet the Pope, who sleeps soundly in his gold four poster bed, has an army of servants and solicitor’s, Lawyer’s, + his own army, lives in huge splendid Palace’s Dripping with renaissance painting’s marble statues ect ect ect ect. Rome The catholic church made a fortune out of the slavery of Irish children The catholic church enslaved us abused us and stole and damaged our childhoods, our identities, our health, Mental and physical, our siblings, our families, ,Roots,which is a lifetime sentence and hide underneath their soiled habits when it comes to compensating us children for crimes against humanity ,ie Us Irish Children. They ignored the cries of babies and children crying out in pain and hunger. What the Famine didn’t finish off the Roman Catholic Church and the Irish Government had a good go of finishing the job.
Paddy,
I wish for it with all my heart, although I’m afraid this will never happen.
The reason is, the world is still in a blind fog of holy admiration, – they rather sacrifice the innocent.
Sieglinde
Sieglinde. I agree absolutely. If anything this man should be arrested and questioned as to what role he did play in covering up the abuse of children, not just in Ireland also in his native Germany as well as in many other countries in the world. Let the police or the courts decide if the Pope was or still is involved in what can only be described a heinous crimes by covering them up and declaring that they be treated as ‘secret’. Paddy
“If survivors got the opportunity to meet Pope Benedict in private, a civilised discussion and a meeting of minds would bring comfort and healing.”
How can a man, who helped suppress the painful experience of victims bring comfort and healing? Further religious manipulation – yes.
People are full of delusion.
Sieglinde
Paddy
Being old and easily confused hasn’t stopped Herr Ratzinger from pontificating on all and sundry with the air of an infallible emperor.
The important difference is you know you are and he doesn’t.
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Lord Acton.
TO FRX
YOUR posting
“Justice does not come from conversing with the chief architect of the crime and hoping he will arbitrate in your favour.
It’s like asking the ringleader of a gang of pick pockets for your wallet back. You might get the wallet but there won’t be anything in it.”
With respect, this looks like you are talking about the Redress Board and not the “non adversarial, non confrontational” promised by Bertie Ahern. The Redress Board as we know it was far from being “non adversarial, non confrontational”,in fact it was the complete opposite and was a tool to limit the financial impact on the State and Church. How can you, using the criteria of “non adversarial, non confrontational” give one survivor 5,000 Euros and another 300,000 Euros when both victims have suffered the three primary abuses, sexual, physical and psychological.
In a court of law you have to prove your case, in the Redress Board the level of compensation was decided by a civil servant.
Cowan in his address to the Dail on 11 June 2009 asks for further substantial reparation for survivors ,why? I think the devil is in the detail! Me thinks Church and State have been caught with their pants down!
I can almost hear the Bishops and the Politicians saying, we will give the low levellers an extra 10 grand and anybody over a certain level of redress will get nothing, then we can be seen to be taking an honourable stance. Okay it is hypothetical but not beyond the bounds of reality.
Oh! and by the way we were all coerced into signing the waiver because we were repeatedly told that this was the best on offer, take it or spend the next seven years trying to get a hearing in a court of law! COERCED BY COMPULSION.
Thank you FRX for a great posting.
Christy
Thanks Hanora. I’m old and easily confused!!! Paddy.
Thanks Kathy. I appreciate you sending that. Paddy.
Paddy, I forwarded that to you a few weeks back – I’ll dig it out for you again.
Crimine Solicitationies http://rcf.org/pdfs/Criminales.pdf
Andrew, do you by any chance have any idea where we can find a copy of this letter? Paddy.
Absolutely Hanora, Absolutely. Those that doubt it, take note. Paddy.
Absolutely Hanora. Absolutely!
Hate, forgiveness, healing etc. are unique to the individual and the individual heals, hates, forgives etc. in their own time. Like our unique fingerprints, we are uniquely different as individuals and therefore please desist from lumping us all together and because one heals and moves on, allow those that haven’t the understanding, patience and tolerance they deserve. Hmmmph!
Justice does not come from conversing with the chief architect of the crime and hoping he will arbitrate in your favour.
It’s like asking the ringleader of a gang of pickpockets for your wallet back. You might get the wallet but there won’t be anything in it.
Each human being has the right to express how they feel about the abuse in their past.
As for forgiveness- that is fine if one chooses to forgive, but not because the Catholic cult said so and brainwashed us into believing it- as that is what keeps humans powerless.
However, knowing the abused can choose to forgive or not gives them their power back, rather than being told to forgive.
Let those who want to meet the pope do so, but I personally could not be in his presence or in the presence of any of these men in frocks who deem themselves to be greater than the rest of us.
Ratzinger is the author of a May 2001 letter to bishops stating that the “Crimine solicitationies” law (regarding strict secrecy in sex abuse cases) is STILL in effect.
The law to which Ratzinger’s letter referred was issued by Pope John XXIII 40 years ago. The law itself is chilling, as it describes a mandatory condition of secrecy for both the perpetrators and victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
The 69-page Latin document bearing the seal of Pope John XXIII was sent to every bishop in the world. The instructions outline a policy of ‘strictest’ secrecy in dealing with allegations of sexual abuse and threatens those who speak out with excommunication.
They also call for the victim to take an oath of secrecy at the time of making a complaint to Church officials. It states that the instructions are to `be diligently stored in the secret archives of the Curia [Vatican] as strictly confidential. Nor is it to be published nor added to with any commentaries.’
Bishops are instructed to pursue these cases `in the most secretive way… restrained by a perpetual silence… and everyone… is to observe the strictest secret which is commonly regarded as a secret of the Holy Office… under the penalty of excommunication’.
I don’t think there can ever be a ‘meeting of minds’ between Ratzinger and abuse survivors when Ratzingers mind is so warped.
FACT
The rapes of Children are subject to PONTIFICAL SECRET
CO SIGNED BY ARCHBISHOP TARCISIO BERTONE
AND POPE BEN,
How could you sit down with them we are above that are we not?
Christy
JIM
ITS ALL IN THE HOGING JIM LAD
CHRISTY
JIM
YOU HAVE MISSED THE POINT AGAIN
The word is COERCED = BY OTHERS
IS IT ABOVE you OR YOU Dont WANT TO SEE IT????
christy
Regarding people who were abused meeting the Pope and having a conversation of some sort with him – I’ve no problem with that. While some people have ‘come to terms with their abuse” others never will, they will take the scars – physical, mental, and emotional to their graves. It is imperative that we accept that and not decry overtly or covertly, those who were so brutally treated by members of religious orders.
I met the Archbishop of Dublin two weeks ago in the company of some other survivors of abuse. Bishop Martin was asked to take a letter requesting that the Pope should meet with survivors of abuse. I declined to sign that letter as I’ve no wish whatever to meet the Pope. If fact I’d prefer if he never set foot on Irish soil. I made that point clearly to the Archbishop of Dublin and to the other people/survivors who attended that meeting.
Paddy.