JACKIE ROBINSON PP,
Sir, - Surely among those being considered by the Irish Catholic bishops to conduct the independent audit on the extent of child sexual abuse by clergy must be journalists representative of all the communications media.
Without their untiring efforts over the past decade to be the voice of innocent and silenced victims, this audit would not be taking place now.
When Pope John Paul II visited Ireland in 1979 he addressed journalists as "my friends" and said: "I wish to leave a special thought for all of you, a special word for each of you." He went on to say: "Your profession, by its very nature, makes you servants, willing servants, of the community. Many of the members of that community will differ from you in political views, in material prospects, in religious conviction or in moral performance. As good communicators, you serve them all just the same - with love and with truth; indeed with a love of truth. As good communicators, you build bridges to unite, not walls to divide. As good communicators, you work out of the conviction that love and service of neighbour are the most important business in your lives.
"All your concern, then, will be for the community's good. You will feed it on the truth. You will enlighten its conscience and serve as its peacemakers. You will set before the community standards that will keep it stretching for a way of life and a mode of behaviour worthy of its potential, worthy of human dignity."
If the Pope has such a high regard for the profession of journalists, especially Irish journalists, and they have played such an important role in unearthing the present scandal, surely they must now be part of "the precise means by which the audit can be most effectively carried out. . ." - Yours, etc.,
Rev PEADAR O'CALLAGHAN, Church of St John the Baptist, Kilbrin, Co Cork.
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Sir, - The scandal of clerical misconduct with minors broke in America in the early 1980s and it is now worse than ever there and across many countries, including Ireland.
Priests are going to jail; bishops are resigning; cardinals are being recalled to Rome; and victims are still being neglected.
Part of the reason for this on-going shocking state of affairs is that the Catholic Church, by and large, has responded by protecting its good name and property rather than by giving Christian pastoral care to its victims.
Also, since this scandal broke in the 1980s, the Church has not launched any serious inquiry or had any thorough debate on the causes and origin of this outrageous situation.
The suggestion has been made that some of the Church rules and disciplines that go to make up the priesthood - such as the celibate culture - might also be part of the problem. For example, how many emotionally immature men are hiding behind the celibate priesthood or, worse still, acting out their adolescent feelings with trusting minors?
Also, it has been discovered in America that approximately 90 per cent of abusive priests' victims are male teenagers, as against the general group of paedophiles who target both girls and boys.
It is now imperative that Rome and the Bishops examine and deal with the fundamental causes of this disturbing and sad state of affairs, even if it means changing some of the structures that make up the priesthood. - Yours, etc.,
JACKIE ROBINSON PP, Borris-in-Ossory, Co Laois.
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Sir, - I have no doubt that the teaching of Christ will survive. However, listening to the evasiveness of Cardinal Connell - aided and abetted by the Curia in Rome - I wonder if the Church will survive.
Sadly, I have my doubts. It appears to me that the Roman Curia have too much power, and refuse to listen to the people of God.
The code of Canon Law consists of man-made laws which are altered to extend the Curia's power as they wish. It is time the bishops and priests of Ireland told these faceless men, "Enough is enough". They could start by having an open appraisal of celibacy. - Yours, etc.,
PATRICK O'DONNELL-KEENAN, Howth, Co Dublin.
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Sir, - There is now a need for a Church-State concordat. The onus is on all churches and religious orders to take collective responsibility for their own internal organisation. They must not conceal and must co-operate fully in the disclosure of all criminal acts such as child sex abuse within their internal organisation.
Legislation must be introduced defining the relationship between canon law and State law. This legislation should set down the parameters and in what circumstances the Church enjoys privilege in relation to its own internal documents and communications, and communications with its members during a State criminal investigation. - Yours, etc.,
DENIS O'BUACHALLA, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.