The institutional church has sometimes chosen "self-preservation" ahead of the principles of truth and justice, the parish priest of Monageer told his congregation yesterday.
In his homily during Sunday Mass, Fr Bill Cosgrave said the Ferns report showed the church as a body had failed to live up to the moral standards it professed.
Fr Cosgrave took over the Co Wexford parish after the death 11 years ago of Fr James Grennan, who was accused of sexually molesting children, often during confessions held on the church altar.
The parish priest told yesterday's congregation that if they ever travelled on the London Underground, they would be constantly advised to "mind the gap". This was good advice for everyday life, he said, because there tended to be a wide gap between what we believed in and the way we acted.
As humans, "we all cut corners when it comes to honesty". But so did groups, communities, and institutions too, "sometimes in a worse way".
When this happened, the instinct for self-preservation took over, individuals were "scapegoated", and the demands of truth and justice were ignored.
Fr Cosgrave said the first step towards self-improvement was, "like an alcoholic", to become fully aware of the problem. Then you had to take a "concrete step" to redress it: "Next time, tell the truth, for example. And after that, repeat it."
Victims of sex abuse in the diocese were remembered during Prayers of the Faithful, which included a prayer of thanks for the "clarity" brought by the Ferns report.
Fr Cosgrave also gave a summary of the bishop's pastoral letter, copies of which were available at the back of the church.
Speaking afterwards, the priest said he hoped the issue was finished with in Monageer. The incidents involving Fr Grennan had happened a long time ago, but residents had become used to seeing their church pictured as a symbol of everything that was wrong in Ferns. "Hopefully we've all learned our lessons, and we can limp forward from this."
A young female parishioner who preferred not to be named said the homily and pastoral letter dealt with the issue satisfactorily and people could now move on. "It was only a few priests who did this. There are a lot of other priests in Ferns who are not to blame for anything. The ones who did it should have been extradited out of the church, and not just moved around."
