Madam, – On behalf of all Irish artists . . . though most have kept their mouth shut, I demand the Irish Government expel the papal nuncio and recall the Irish ambassador from the Vatican City in order to respect the people of Ireland who are outraged by the contempt displayed by the Vatican for the suffering endured by survivors of clerical abuse and for the people of Ireland in general.
I demand also that the Pope stand down for his contemptible silence on the matter and his acts of non-co-operation with the inquiry.
Popes have had no problem voicing their opinions when we wanted contraception or divorce. No problem criticising the Da Vinci Code. No problem declaring Harry Potter books as evil. No problem criticising Naomi Campbell for wearing a bejewelled cross. Yet when it comes to the evils done by paedophiles dressed as priests they are silent. It is grotesque. Unbelievable. Bizarre and unprecedented. They stand for nothing now but evil. And our ancestors gave up anything that would have given them a moment's joy. Because they believed these liars.
They have brought Catholicism and the idea of God into disrepute. We need to take back the church, which is ours, not theirs. They are not fit to call themselves representatives of Christ. They represent nothing but evil any more.
They never believed that God was watching. And they still act as though they don’t think God is watching. But every one of them will have to meet their maker in the end. Even the Pope himself. And if I were them I would be very afraid.
Brian Cowen has no clue what Irish people want. He should stand down and admit he has behaved in this matter as a coward. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – As an Australian living in Ireland I found the response to clerical sexual abuse by the Irish hierarchy bizarre. The Archdiocese of Melbourne faced a similar problem in smaller proportions in the 1990s.The Archbishop of Melbourne George Pell [now Cardinal] set up an independent commission headed up by an eminent queen’s counsel to investigate in a timely and thorough manner any complaint related to abuse. Complainants were also encouraged to involve the police. In fact, Cardinal Pell was a victim of his own protocol. He was accused of abuse as a younger priest. He immediately stepped down as archbishop and let the commission investigate. The complaint was not acted upon as the commission found the complainant’s statement unreliable. That is what I call leadership, something the Irish hierarchy could learn from if they are to retain any vestige of respect from their flock. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It amazes me to hear that so many people are opting to leave the Catholic Church outright in the wake of the Murphy report. Would those who are ill refuse to go to a hospital on hearing about misconduct among certain doctors? In a similar situation, would they refuse to call the gardaí if their house had been burgled? It would be far better to engage with the church in order to improve the valuable service that it provides, than to abandon it entirely as a result of the practices of the minority. – Yours, etc,