Brady: Sex abuse crisis not limited to our Church

IRISH bishops have told Pope Benedict of the devastation caused by child sex abuse, while victims still demand top-level resignations over the subsequent cover-up.

Cardinal Seán Brady said there had been an appeal in the meeting with the Pope that the bishops should show strong leadership and to lead from the front.

He later said the problem of sex abuse was not just limited to the Catholic Church.

“We also know and we recognise that this is not just an Irish problem... but it is a great problem and at the centre of it all must be the welfare of victims,” he said.

Bishop Joe Duffy of Clogher also said the bishops shared the responsibility “for not doing the job” regarding tackling child sex abuse in the past.

According to the statement issued yesterday following the two-day meeting between the Irish bishops and the Pontiff in the Vatican, each bishop had a chance to speak on the issue to the Pope.

“The bishops spoke frankly of the sense of pain and anger, betrayal, scandal and shame expressed to them on numerous occasions by those who had been abused,” the statement said.

“There was a similar sense of outrage reflected by laity, priests and religious in this regard.”

The bishops cited the support being provided by thousands of trained and dedicated lay volunteers at parish level to ensure the safety of children in all Church activities, and stressed that, “while there is no doubt that errors of judgment and omissions stand at the heart of the crisis, significant measures have now been taken to ensure the safety of children and young people.

“They also emphasised their commitment to cooperation with the statutory authorities in Ireland – North and South – and with the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland to guarantee that the Church’s standards, policies and procedures represent best practice in this area.”

The bishops discussed a draft of the Pastoral Letter of the Holy Father to the Catholics of Ireland and their contributions could feature in the finished letter, to be delivered during Lent.