HELENA O'LEARY,
Sir, - Your daily coverage of the sex abuse scandals gives a fascinating insight into the Irish psyche. From reporting that Mr Martin, Minister for Health and Children, "hopes" that the Church will assist the inquiry (The Irish Times, April 5th) to stating that "Canon Law limitation from Rome may be obstacle" (April 8th) to the Editorial of April 9th which tells us that "bishops would supply the information which they consider necessary", it is becoming clear to me that, left to its own devices, as much will be done by the Church authorities in the future regarding this disgraceful affair, as was done in the past. Empty rhetoric, indeed.
It is time to get this whole sordid business into perspective. Over the years, crimes - vile, despicable crimes - were carried out on young citizens of the State, within the jurisdiction of the State, by men of a worldwide uniformed organisation.
Some of their superiors, instead of reporting these repellent acts to the civil authorities (as was their civic duty), engaged in a campaign of obfuscation and subterfuge, and, by so doing, facilitated further abuses to be committed, thereby rendering themselves, in my book, as culpable as those who carried out the foul acts in the first place. It doesn't matter how exalted these leaders consider themselves to be; no man is above God's Law.
These collaborators should, in my opinion, be brought before the courts, not as witnesses, but as co-defendants. All evidence, both that already averred to and that secreted away, should be removed from the various centres where it is held, by force and under search warrant, if necessary. Any internal confidentiality rules of this organisation should be disregarded entirely - these crimes took place on Irish soil, and the only laws which should apply are the laws of this State, period. With this exercise completed, then, and only then, will justice be done, and be seen to be done.
It is time for the citizens of Ireland to demand that our Government stop pussyfooting around in this matter, and finally bring these depraved individuals (and their apologists) to task. - Yours, etc.,
D.K. HENDERSON,
Castle Avenue,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.
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Sir, - To take an unmarried "celibate" group of people as a means of examining one of the most horrific crimes against humanity, child sex abuse, must surely be a masterpiece in scapegoating.
Priests have sexually abused children. So have teachers, doctors, police, journalists, plumbers, architects, actors, builders, producers, etc. But most horrifying of all, parents are sexually abusing their own children.
There is abundant research to show that the highest percentage of child sex abuse offences happen within the home, perpetrated by a parent, an uncle, a cousin. Children are in the greatest danger of sexual abuse within the supposedly protective environment of the family, and this violation is not restricted to a lower socio-economic grouping, but spans all classes.
A study published in the British medical journal The Lancet last September found that 20 per cent of Boston women claimed to have been sexually abused in childhood or adolescence. These women were 96 per cent white, 74 per cent college educated. Therefore, one can assume, interestingly, that a high proportion are Catholics and of Irish extraction.
In Ireland's pseudo-pluralist society, familial child sexual abuse is a much more difficult issue to deal with than clerical child sexual abuse, but the continual failure to examine this by the whole Church - its institution and its members - knowingly leaves children exposed to unfettered violence. The family, not the priesthood, is the nucleus of church life!
There are many adults today in Irish society who live lives distorted, consciously or subconsciously by the secret of having been sexually abused in their family, but fear and guilt and pride and honour have enslaved them in their pain and in many cases they are exposing their own children to this secret life where love cannot flourish.
Each individual Catholic/Christian is responsible for their own wrongdoing, whether they be a priest, a religious, a parent, an uncle. When this wrongdoing is perceived by others, it is then their individual Christian responsibility to highlight, help and stop, in this case, the sexual abuse of the most vulnerable people in our society, the children. - Yours, etc.,
HELENA O'LEARY,
Pilgrim House Community,
Inch,
Co Wexford.
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Sir, - From the age of 13 years until I was 25 I attended all-male colleges administered by Catholic priests.
At no time was I ever approached by, or interfered with, by these priests, who dedicated their lives to educating me and my colleagues through to maturity and making us capable of taking our places in the world.
I regret that I fear the good ones may be maligned by the few rotten apples. - Yours, etc.,
JOE FAVIER,
Headford,
Killarney,
Co Kerry.
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Sir, - Angela Macnamara writes April 11:. "Among the many [priests and brothers] who were spiritually and emotionally strong and well fitted for the challenges of celibacy, there were also those who were homosexual, those who were potentially paedophiles, and those who were simply confused."
If we substitute "heterosexual" for "homosexual" we see how homophobic this sentence "simply" is. - Yours, etc.,
DECLAN KELLY,
Whitechurch Road,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 14.