Victims to meet Pope's investigators
The members of -- officially known as "visitators" -- are the former head of the Catholic Church in England, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (pictured), Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto, and Archbishop Terence Prendergast of Ottawa.
Update: Northern Ireland's deputy First Minister has also met with members of the Apostolic Visitation today. Martin McGuinness MLA MP said afterwards: ""The abuse of many children and vulnerable young people in institutions over many years and the totally insensitive manner in which this was dealt with has cast a dark cloud over Irish society. There is an onus on us all to ensure that this abuse can never be allowed to happen again and that necessary safeguarding arrangements are put in place to guarantee protection for those who are greatest at risk. The Papal initiative is an important part of the process of putting the needs of victims' first. Those who have perpetrated such heinous crimes must not be protected, but must be subject to the full rigours of the legal process."
Martin McGuinness also referred to the recent announcement by the Executive to set up an interdepartmental taskforce into institutional abuse: "Before Christmas the Executive agreed to hold its own inquiry into institutional child abuse and have established an interdepartmental taskforce to establish the nature and scope of this inquiry. I welcomed the opportunity to update the cardinal on developments and our discussions will no doubt help to inform this debate. While it is imperative that this can be brought to a conclusion as soon as possible, it is also important that the process is got right and that victims' are not subject to further and unnecessary suffering. The needs of victims' and their desire for closure is and will continue to be the over-arching focus of attention throughout the entire process. Those who have suffered abuse will be consulted on the terms of reference for the inquiry."
Comment number 1.
At 22nd Jan 2011, romejellybeen wrote:Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor's appointment as a visitator would be hilarious if it wasnt so crassly insulting to victims.
I wonder if the victims of Fr Michael Hill will be invited to meet with the Cardinal.
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Comment number 2.
At 22nd Jan 2011, newlach wrote:The Pope's investigators are in Ireland to protect the interests of the Catholic Church. If some victims can be dissuaded from pursuing legal action against the Church the investigators will be seen by their paymasters to have done good work.
Here is a quote from the document linked to by romejellybeen:
"The cardinal made a public statement admitting that, in 1985 as Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, he had moved Hill to the chaplaincy at Gatwick airport after finding out about his paedophile activities."
Which cardinal could this be!
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Comment number 3.
At 24th Jan 2011, Phil Lucifer wrote:Some of the priests who sexually abused children have been brought before the courts and sent to prison. In those cases where there was a cover-up by the hierarchy, the vile crimes of the paedophiles were protracted over many years by being moved from one parish to another, and thus from one set of victims to new victims. That was certainly the case with Fr Brendan Smyth and Fr Oliver O'Grady, for example, who both continued to rape children after being transferred from one place to another.
Covering up for a paedophile rapist is a crime. It amounts to aiding and abetting the paedophile. It is a crime that several members of the hierarchy admit to having committed. They seem to think that admitting to the crime absolves them from being prosecuted for it. Why should it? If someone embezzles their employer and then admits the embezzlement, they will still face prosecution. The same should apply to everyone involved in the cover-up. They should be tried and punished for aiding and abetting the crime of child rape.
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Comment number 4.
At 24th Jan 2011, newlach wrote:One concern I have is that the vulnerable victims in question might say something to the Pope's investigators that could be used against them in any subsequent legal action which they might bring for compensation. In a confused state an abuse survivor might be inclined to downplay their lifetime of suffering.
Abuse survivors should first seek advice from a good solicitor.
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Comment number 5.
At 24th Jan 2011, Dave wrote:Too true newlach,
In legal cases I thought that the defendants lawyers, investigators and witnesses had no access to the victim except through their legal representation for exactly these reasons. If there is any possibility that these inquisitors might one day be defence witnesses or indeed in the dock themselves their access to victims does bear some consideration.
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