RITE AND REASON:A rhetoric of love and inclusion is far from the actual revulsion felt in Irish society and the Catholic Church itself where clergy abusers are concerned, writes Marie Keenan.
ON FEBRUARY 18th last the Commission for Justice and Social Affairs of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference hosted a conference at Croke Park on the question of who is my neighbour, based on the encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love).
It is a long time since I witnessed such apparent agreement at any one gathering on the conference's central message - that we must love our neighbour as ourselves.
For eight hours the messages of love poured forth from leaders of the Catholic Church and from other presenters.
"Belief in the dignity of the 'other' is in practice a fight for the underdog; have courage; we are all made in the image of the Creator" and so on.
We were encouraged to examine our blind spots, recognise people in need, be a Good Samaritan and work for charity, justice and love in an increasingly secular world.
We were reminded that it is not good enough to be a good neighbour out of a sense of duty, but that our hearts must be in the right place.
The worth and dignity of every human being was emphasised.
I could not agree more. The rhetoric of love and inclusion that this conference proclaimed is a far cry from the reality of revulsion and exclusion that is largely at play, not only within Irish society but also within some quarters of the Catholic Church itself, when it comes to sexual abuse by clergy.
When have readers of The Irish Times heard leaders of the Catholic Church argue for repentance and forgiveness for clergy offenders, or at least for human understanding and compassion?
How often have we heard the "vocal" leaders of the Catholic Church in Ireland suggest that we must see ourselves in our brother, even if he has done wrong?
How many church leaders openly question the very institution itself, asking whether clergy abuse represents more than individual deviance, or whether it is bred within its own walls and on its own watch?
In the current climate in which child sexual abuse by clergy is narrated it would indeed take a lot of courage for a church leader to raise these issues.
There are many aspects of child sexual abuse by clergy that neither the commission of investigation in Dublin nor the Ferns Inquiry can or could ever get close to, useful as their work may be.
Whilst these inquiries bring forth a version of who did what to whom, when and where, and present us with an identifiable cast of villains, I am not convinced that the story ends there or that the healing or closure that many people desire is achieved by such processes - if healing or closure are ever possible.
Love, compassion and dialogue are at least as worthy of consideration here.
Many victims of abuse needed love, compassion and dialogue when they first reported their abuse to the church authorities.
Instead, they tell of being met by some with cold disregard and a sense that the "other" was more important.
Such flashbacks may have been invoked in the recent outpouring of pain and anger during the controversy involving the Dublin archdiocese and the opening of files to the commission of investigation.
A little compassion would go a long way also with clergy offenders, especially when they have taken responsibility for their offences, engaged in treatment and served prison sentences.
Instead, some of these men are met, just as the victims once were, with cold disregard by some church leaders and a harshness that is often hard to endure.
The conference on Deus Caritas Est did not say anything about categories of worthiness for love, like deserving and undeserving.
On the contrary, it told us we must not discriminate in our love for our fellow man; that we can abhor the behaviour and still reach out a hand.
And so, in the light of Deus Cartias Est, can someone please explain to me why the Dublin archdiocese has now decided to employ a retired detective sergeant to police its clergy, when these men are very obviously in need of care and compassion?
Does this development represent a new departure in the Dublin archdiocese's approach to showing love?
Dr Marie Keenan is a sociologist and a psychotherapist who has treated clergy abusers at the Granada Institute in Dublin, which specialises in working with sex offenders and their families.