Child abuse nightmare - Promises to take action not enough

THERE was an unfortunate but illustrative coincidence yesterday when two strands of our national tragedy overlapped.

The Roscommon mother, who abused and neglected her six children in a bestial way, began a seven-year jail sentence as Catholic bishops were at an “emergency” meeting to discuss clerical child sexual abuse.

Cardinal Brady, who called the Maynooth meeting, is apparently determined to finally resolve this scandal. His intentions are no doubt honourable but by describing this as an “emergency” meeting you would be forgiven for imagining that the notorious paedophile, the monstrous Fr Brendan Smyth was arrested in the last 15 hours rather than 15 years ago.

How patient are we supposed to be with the foot dragging — Catholic Church and State — that surrounds this never-ending scandal?

There are suggestions that growing impatience and dismay in the Vatican were behind yesterday’s gathering in Kildare. If there is impatience in Rome there is growing disquiet right across society too at how slowly the Catholic Church and the State have reacted to this evil in our midst.

That this week’s heart-rending court case in Roscommon was the culmination of 13 years — yes, 13 years — of State involvement in this family’s nightmare leaves little room for any debate on the delay charge.

That the Minister for Children Barry Andrews set a 48-hour deadline for a report — on the HSE by the HSE — on the saga suggests growing impatience in his office too. However, we have unfortunately been taught to be sceptical on these matters and only time will tell if this urgency has more to do with optics or a determination to do what needs to be done.

Just as those of us, official and otherwise, who failed the six children in Roscommon take refuge in process, blaming inadequate resources or structure for our inaction, the bishops are still talking and arguing even though the time for debate has long since passed.

As he went into the Maynooth meeting yesterday Cardinal Brady apologised to anyone he might have offended by him expressing his belief that Bishop John Magee should not resign, and that it is important “that he be there to accept his responsibility”.

This statement would have set the tone for the meeting and underlined once again how utterly disconnected these churchmen have become from the world around them.

This denial of obligations, this aloofness from what is right and appropriate in a republic cannot be acceptable much longer, much less those very many Catholics dismayed and disturbed by this behaviour.

Last evening’s statement from Cardinal Brady, if taken in isolation, was reassuring and laced with contrition and regret. It promised a unified approach and assured us that those who abused children would not be tolerated in the Catholic Church. It emphasised a determined approach to the issues.

What undermines it fatally though is that it is so very like all of the other statements issued by the Catholic Church in Ireland since the 40-year reign of terror and abuse inflicted on children by Fr Brendan Smyth came to an end with his arrest in 1994.

As a society we failed the Roscommon children.

As an institution the Catholic Church fails to recognise that promises are no longer enough.