Madam, - When I was younger and more conservative I believed very strongly in the capacity of central authority to bring about change, particularly change for the good. But after nearly 25 years observing the exercise of power at close range I find myself being pushed further and further to the left.
Now it seems to me the capacity to bring about real change is possessed only by those at the lowest levels of society and the role of those of us closer to power is to remove the obstacles, clear the way and restrain the exercise of unaccountable power by those not amenable to democratic control (capital in particular) or hostile to democratic values (eg the governing structures of the Roman Catholic Church).
I suppose you could say I am more an anarchist than a socialist! Nevertheless, I am still (battered, bruised and indeed humiliated) a practising member of the Roman Catholic Church. It was to that church that I addressed many of my early reflections on the nature and abuse of power.
From the early 1980s I suggested over and over that the exercise of power where the powerful see themselves as accountable only to God was a temptation to megalomania that only the truly saintly could resist. And I didn't see much signs of saintliness. Indeed I didn't expect it. I preferred the idea of a church of sinners where fallible and frail people helped each other and relied on the Lord.
Over 25 years the response to my musings (and sometimes pleading) has been a combination of dismissal ("the faithful don't see it like that"), patronisation ("but you are the church"), and marginalisation. But the problem hasn't gone away.
Even as bishop after bishop asks for (and is willingly given) forgiveness the institution doesn't change. It was only in May of last year that the present Pope sent a letter to all the bishops which began with the astonishing phrase "The Church, expert in humanity" and went on to talk about the role of women in society. One can only wonder where all the expertise was when children in Ireland, the UK and the US were suffering at the hands of priests who in most cases were protected by both bishops and by the laws of the church.
The "expertise" may well be evident in another response too. The so called framework (the agreed method of dealing with child sex abuse allegations) was submitted to Rome in 1996. Only Rome could compel Irish bishops to implement it. Nine years later it still has not done so and nine years later not all Irish bishops are implementing it. Is it possible that the "experts in humanity" are waiting to see if they can ride out the storm? Maybe they'd share their expertise with us. - Yours, etc,
BRENDAN RYAN, Seanad Éireann, Dublin 2.
Madam, - I should like to make three points with reference to the letter of November 8th from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
Firstly, the role of an editorial board is to prepare for publication submissions of contributors, eg by ensuring a consistency of style, format and length. It is not to censure or endorse the views of the contributors. That has not been my experience either as an editor or as a contributor.
Secondly, it is not true that in the cited article in The Irish Theological Quarterly, I "sought to publicly distance" myself from "some of the less than palatable paragraphs" in Canon Law: Letter and Spirit; as is stated in the article, my intention was "to offer some general clarification about what Canon Law is, how it fits into the life of the Church and the faithful, how it is interpreted, how it is implemented, and then to offer some facts around the commentary on canon 1395 published in The Canon Law: Letter and Spirit".
Thirdly, the opinions expressed in the commentary are those of the authors indicated. I submitted comments on some 263 canons of the Code and I would not expect anyone other than myself to take responsibility for errors contained in them. - Yours, etc,
AIDAN McGRATH, OFM, Judicial Vicar, Dublin Regional Marriage Tribunal, Archbishop's House, Dublin 9.
Madam, - Amid the extensive reports, analysis and comment surrounding the sexual abuse of children by clergy, one very significant point has gone largely unnoticed.
According to the SAVI report (2002) as quoted in the Ferns Report, "the reported prevalence of child sexual abuse by religious in Ireland is 3.2 per cent of all cases of child sexual abuse reported to them". What about the other 96.8 per cent?
Are we prepared to tackle this crime with the same vigour and justifiable outrage that has been directed against the Catholic Church? We don't need any more proof of the existence of a large undetected and unconfronted number of child abusers in our midst.
The Catholic Church has, however belatedly, put in place admirable and effective policies and procedures for handling allegations. However, the most fundamental issue which keeps the lid on the 96.8 per cent of cases referred to above is that victims are not sufficiently empowered to put a stop to this heinous crime against our children. Consider the effect on the abusers if their victims had as much power as they are using to conceal their evil acts. If we are sincere about the primacy of the children, surely we can find a way to empower them to stop the abuse on the very first occasion. - Yours, etc,
PETER McNALLY, Anne Devlin Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.