Katie O’Neill, London, August 21, 2018<\/p>\n
Francis apologises but survivors want real action<\/em><\/p>\n The Pope released a letter of apology over clerical sex abuse yesterday as the issue continued to overshadow his visit to Ireland this weekend.<\/p>\n With only four days to go until the pontiff\u2019s arrival, Marie Collins, a prominent survivor of clerical abuse, said that the pontiff\u2019s lengthy apology failed to detail the action the Vatican would take. She called on the Pope to outline specific measures during his 36-hour visit. The same criticism was levelled by One in Four, the sexual abuse charity.<\/p>\n The three-page letter addressed to \u201cthe People of God\u201d was released by the Vatican in seven languages. Last week a grand jury report was published in the US detailing sexual abuse by about 300 priests over 70 years.<\/p>\n \u201cWith shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realising the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives,\u201d the Pope wrote. \u201cWe showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Vatican had been criticised for being slow to respond to the Pennsylvania grand jury report, which detailed the abuse suffered by 1,000 children and the failure by the church hierarchy to respond to their complaints.<\/p>\n The Vatican first responded late on Thursday when Greg Burke, the spokesman for the Holy See, issued a brief statement: \u201cVictims should know the Pope is on their side. Those who have suffered are his priority.\u201d<\/p>\n Presenting yesterday\u2019s letter, Mr Burke emphasised its universal scope. \u201cThis is about Ireland, it\u2019s about the United States, and this is about Chile but not only,\u201d he said. \u201cPope Francis has written to the People of God, and that means everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pope denounced sexual abuse as a crime and admitted it had been facilitated by an institutional cover-up. Observers noted, however, that the apology did not mention the word \u201cbishop\u201d, the church leaders who either responded inadequately or were complicit in the scandal, and was short on practical suggestions on how the church intended to react now.<\/p>\n \u201cI acknowledge once more the suffering endured by many minors due to sexual abuse, the abuse of power and the abuse of conscience perpetrated by a significant number of clerics and consecrated persons,\u201d the Pope wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking back to the past, no effort to beg pardon and to seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Collins, a former member of the pontifical commission for the protection of minors, said she welcomed aspects of the Pope\u2019s letter, but that it was missing specific details of how the church would address the matter. \u201cI think a lot of it is good in that he uses very strong language and very clear language about clericalism and about the pride and complacency in the church and referring to abuse as crimes, which the Vatican for a very long time has refused to do,\u201d Ms Collins said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main thing that I have a problem with is that it still doesn\u2019t say what is going to be done. He says what needs to be done, he says that all of those who abuse and all of those who cover up those crimes must be held accountable, but he is the one that has to hold them accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Collins was abused by a priest when she was 13. She resigned from the Vatican commission last year, accusing the church of being resistant to change.<\/p>\n In his remarks yesterday, the Pope said: \u201cWe have delayed in applying these actions and sanctions that are so necessary, yet I am confident that they will help to guarantee a greater culture of care in the present and future.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Collins said that was a \u201cmassive understatement\u201d to say that reform had been marred by delays: \u201cIt\u2019s decades now and to say that it\u2019s just been delayed, it\u2019s dreadful. It\u2019s been wilfully delayed by those within the Vatican . . . It\u2019s a question of these necessary procedures wilfully rejected by those who do not want to see them put in place.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Collins added: \u201cHopefully [the Pope] might, in follow up to this letter, when he comes to Ireland say, \u2018This is now what I am going to do.\u2019 That\u2019s what I\u2019m waiting for and I know I am certainly not alone in that . . . There has to now be a statement on what is going to be done with any church leader who covered up the abuse of children.\u201d<\/p>\n One in Four said it was disappointed and frustrated with the Pope\u2019s comments. It said his letter failed to identify a \u201csingle concrete step\u201d the Vatican intended to take to hold clerical sex offenders and those who protected them accountable for their crimes.<\/p>\n \u201cSurvivors are tired of meaningless apologies and expressions of solidarity that do not involve a clear call to action,\u201d Maeve Lewis, One in Four executive director, said. \u201cThe Pope\u2019s visit is very distressing to many survivors, retriggering old emotions of shame, humiliation, despair and anger. The least they deserve during this papal visit is a clear commitment that the Catholic church finally intends to deal with clerical child sexual abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n Mark Vincent Healy, the first male survivor of clerical abuse to meet Pope Francis, said the pontiff\u2019s statement must be followed by a reconciliation forum for victims. \u201cThis is a situation where we are beyond sincere sorrow,\u201d he said. \u201cThank you very much Francis, all the same, for your very kind and considered words but we\u2019re looking for far more.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Healy warned of divisions between those who wanted the church and the Pope to be held accountable, and those who felt demeaned and disgraced \u201cfor the faith they hold dear\u201d.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cWe\u2019re in turmoil in this country. I think there\u2019s a huge resentment to his coming at this point and I don\u2019t know how it\u2019s going to play out.\u201d<\/p>\n