The abuse scandals in Ireland, even more than in Germany, have led to a radical turning away of the faithful from the Catholic Church. Vatican says Irish bishops still have much to do to win back trust.
Two years after the historic letter from Pope Benedict XVI. to the Irish on child abuse in the church, the Vatican continues to see serious shortcomings in the fight against sexual assault of minors by clergy in the country. A few weeks after a high-profile Vatican congress on abuse in the church, the specially appointed Vatican commission of inquiry called for sweeping changes in prevention and processing.
The Vatican then called on the Irish bishops to revise existing guidelines. The religious orders were instructed to return to their original orientation with programs to be developed specifically for this purpose. The participants in the apostolic visitation also warned that the clergy needed to be much better trained.
In addition to deficiencies in prevention and processing, however, the bishops charged by the Vatican with the investigation also criticized clear rules for dealing with convicted perpetrators. While at a recent Vatican congress there were renewed calls to remove them from the church ministry altogether, Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier, who has come under criticism for employing perpetrators, warned against leaving pedophile clergy to their fate. The abuse commissioner of the German Bishops' Conference pleaded at the conference to integrate the perpetrators into church institutions in order to be able to control them and protect possible further victims from them.
While the Vatican commission of inquiry admonishes the Irish church to pay closer attention to the suitability of candidates for the priesthood, it also calls for the development of new rules for dealing with convicted offenders. Bishops must clarify, according to the report, in what environment and under what conditions pedophile priests should live.
Credibility severely damaged
Even more than in Germany, the abuse scandals led to a radical turning away of the faithful from the church in Ireland, which until then had been deeply Catholic. A papal trip that had been temporarily considered does not take place because of the expected negative reactions. All the more strongly, the Vatican admonishes the Irish church, based on its investigation results, to regain the interest and trust of the population.
However, the commission also found a growing alienation from Catholic teaching among clergy members. "Deviation from the fundamental teachings of the Church is not the authentic path toward renewal," Vatican warns Irish Catholics weakened by abuse scandals.
The credibility of the Irish church was not only severely damaged by the fact that it employed pedophile priests. Those who should have watched over the treatment of children and young people in the church "often failed to do so effectively," the commission of inquiry found. During discussions with church representatives and victims, it had become clear "how much past misconduct had led to a poor response, not least on the part of several bishops and religious superiors".
Because the scale of the abuse cases and their cover-up was greater in Ireland than in other countries, Pope Benedict XVI directed. Two years ago, sent a letter to the country's faithful urging a major overhaul. In the opinion of the commission of inquiry, much remains to be done on the part of the church institutions.