Dublin archbishop: Church was too slow to respond to abuse complaints
November 25, 2013
Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said that Church leaders were “all too slow” to respond to complaints of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
Speaking on the 10th anniversary of the office of Child Safeguarding and Protection, the archbishop said that the Church still needs to do more to establish “an open door and a safe space for those survivors who still fear telling their story and who still live alone with their anguish.”
Archbishop Martin—who has been consistently critical of the Irish hierarchy’s response to abuse—was unsparing in his treatment of Church officials who ignored abuse victims and protected abusers. “The institution, in protecting its own, failed those children,” he said.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
-
Posted by: geoffreysmith1 -
Nov. 27, 2013 8:19 AM ET USA
"Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said that Church leaders were “all too slow” to respond to complaints of sexual abuse by Catholic priests." Garbage. It's not that they were 'all too slow' but that they were well aware of the significance of such complaints, being directed against the covert gay element in the priesthood. On the contrary, the bishops acted very quickly indeed to smother any adverse publicity that would reveal the true villains of the piece - the abusive gays.
