Archbishop criticises failures by clergy to safeguard children

• Published date: 23 November 2022
• Publication title: Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)

The latest revelations "reawaken once again for survivors the horror of childhood abuse", he said

"No matter what words we use to describe our revulsion at hearing about these heinous crimes, they can never capture the reality of suffering endured by victims and survivors of sexual abuse, suffering compounded by the pathetic responses of those who failed to protect the people they were ordained to shepherd. Because trust was breached in a most egregious manner survivors have suffered years of irreparable damage. For that, no word of apology will ever be sufficient," he said.

Speaking at a Mass at the Church of St John the Baptist in Dublin's Blackrock, he said that "too often those in leadership in dioceses and religious orders have failed to safeguard those entrusted to their care - whether through ignorance, misplaced loyalty or a sense of self-preservation".

Despite the many reports and serious findings on the subject in Ireland "these most recent reports and revelations of predatory behaviour, appalling abuse and neglect inflicted on so many children are nonetheless truly shocking. The evil that was perpetrated upon so many people, in the first instance, upon survivors and their families, but also upon the community of faithful who rightly feel...