There can be no overlooking the past, rewriting history or imposing fast-track healing on victims, the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said.
Speaking during a homily at the Holy Thursday Chrism Mass in Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral this morning, Dr Martin acknowledged that the priests of the Dublin archdiocese was facing a difficult time.
“This has been a difficult year. We see how damaging failure of integrity and authenticity are to the Body of Christ. Shameful abuse took place within the Church of Christ,” he said.
“The response was hopelessly inadequate. I do not wish to give the impression that I want to go on forever hammering home a message of grief about the past, that I am obsessed with the past.
“Some ask me: ‘can we not leave all that aside now, proclaim closure and move on?'” he said. “I cannot agree. There can be no overlooking the past. There is no short-cut in addressing the past. The credibility of the Church in this diocese of Dublin will only be regained when we honestly recognise the failures of the past, whatever our share of responsibility for them.
“There can be no rewriting history. There is no way we should impose fast-track healing on those whose vulnerability was abuse.”
Dr Martin said the church has to address the past but not become “imprisoned” by it. “We must turn to Jesus,” he said. “Let us follow Jesus on the path of his emptying himself of all attachment to false values and allow him to bear and heal the wounds which our own sinfulness and that of others have placed on us.”
Earlier in his homily, he said it has not been an easy year for the diocese. “It has not been an easy year for the priests of Dublin as we all grapple with a dark moment in the past history of our presbyterium.”
He noted that in his recent letter to the Catholics of Ireland, Pope Benedict reached out to priests who feel discouraged and even abandoned.
“I thank the priests of the diocese for the continued commitment to their calling. I thank the lay members of our parish communities for the support you have given to your priests at a moment which was trying for all of us,” Dr Martin said.
“I thank the priests whose first thoughts in the midst of such a situation went out not to themselves, but to the victims and survivors and their families and also to the need for reparation and renewal in the life of the Church.”
He also thanked the many people who had written to him in recent months. “I thank those who have been frank and even sharp in their criticism of the past and of the slowness of the present,” he said
