Irish archbishop reveals anger, disgust on reading abuse report

June 16, 2009

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin reveals that he was overcome with anger and disgust when he read a report on abuse of children in Church-related institutions. In an interview scheduled for Irish television broadcast on June 16, the archbishop said that at one point, while reading the report, he hurled the document across the room; later he had trouble sleeping, he said.

Archbishop Martin has established a pattern of speaking clearly and even angrily in his responses to reports of clerical abuse. He once told an interviewer that he would do bodily harm on anyone who abused his own young relatives. He openly opposed the effort of his predecessor, Cardinal Desmond Connell, to prevent the release of documents showing how the Dublin archdiocese handled sex-abuse complaints. More recently, he rebuked the newly installed Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, for defending the Irish religious orders accused of allowing abuse in Church-run institutions.

 

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Further information:

• Archbishop 'couldn't keep reading' abuse details (Irish Times)
• Martin reveals personal disgust at abuse (Irish Independent)
• Irish prelates clash on release of abuse documents (CWN, Feb 1, 2008)
• Dublin archbishop rebukes new Westminster archbishop over abuse remarks (CWN, May 22)