Amnesty International Slams Irish Catholic Church On Abuse

By Francis X. Rocca
Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS) A new report by the Irish branch of Amnesty International says the sexual abuse of children by Ireland's Roman Catholic priests "included acts that amounted to torture and inhuman and degrading treatment."

The 430-page report, released Monday (Sept. 26), "reminds us that Irish children were subjected to treatment that would be horrifying if it were done to prisoners of war, never mind little boys and girls," said Ireland's Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald, in Dublin.

The study is a response to four major government probes of clerical sex abuse in the Catholic Church conducted since 2003. Those investigations revealed widespread child abuse over several decades by clergy and members of religious orders, leading to the resignations of three bishops.

The most recent government report, published in July, concluded that child protection policies established by Irish church leaders in 1996 were "not fully or consistently implemented" in the diocese of Cloyne, where sexual abuse allegations against priests were made as late as 2009.

The Vatican launched its own investigation of clerical sex abuse in Ireland last November, which has finished its "first phase." A published report of its findings might not appear until next year.

In May, Amnesty International accused the Holy See of falling short of its treaty commitments to protect children from sex abuse. Separately, abuse victims have filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court that seeks to hold Pope Benedict XVI and others responsible for the "systematic and widespread concealing of rape and child sex crimes throughout the world."

Comments

[Tuigim]

01:17 PM on 10/09/2011

In Ireland we don't have a prime minister, we have a Taoiseach.
If the Vatican can get its terms (papal nuncio) in a dead language, at least we can have ours in a living one, please. They don't deserve more respect than us and never did.
So,
we need
1. To stop it.
All the criminals to be prosecuted and YES that goes to the HIGHEST level and includes ALL who cooperated. Although many felt themselves to be victims and helpless and are less guilty than the powerful, nothing excuses allowing kids to be molested.
2. To stop it from happening again.
Separation of church and state in Ireland. That means the government MUST provide schools, hospitals etc. with no religious influence or symbols. No more hearing The Angelus on national TV and radio!
3. To move on and heal.
Ireland needs a re-education program. We have been under fascist oppression since De Valera and we need to throw off the yolk of an oppressive and abusive church.

[KenInd]

07:13 PM on 10/03/2011

Isn't amnesty what the former Pope granted to Cardinal Law, when the latter flew to the Vatican in the dark of the night?

[zack seas]

10:41 AM on 10/02/2011

Christiananity is based on a grossly morally repugnant Lord God. One who loves the smell of ritual child sacrifice. One who condones raping of babies and genocide. Rape, murder = morally repugnant. The current churches call this "the Lord God's loves". This is the foundation of Lord God. Christians in North America would still be burning woman and children at the stake today had it not been for the collective moral conscience of Atheist stopping them and letting them know their acts were morally repugnant.

[Norge]

09:15 AM on 10/02/2011

at: http://www.amnesty.org

[Norge]

09:13 AM on 10/02/2011

http://www.amnesty.com called it correctly.

[Clevelandinwi]

08:48 PM on 09/30/2011

And the pope says? Oh, nothing!

[Andres Serra]

12:18 AM on 09/29/2011

These people are despicable, they should go to prison.

[benseccorp]

12:08 AM on 09/29/2011

The sad thing here is that none of the kids who were abused will ever beleive that Christ is their savior and God is their protector. These kids were betrayed by men who broke their vows and oaths of chastity where their divine loyalty is to be to in service to God. What is equally as sad is that the Catholic Church through divisiveness covered the egregious sins and allowed the same preists to do the same perverted pedophile acts over and over again. There was one preist in Milwaukee where there were over 200 counts of sexual abuse of deaf mute children. Now, that is a real serial pedophile! The critcs of Catholcism will never be silenced until the church addresses the situations fully and righteously! If they fail to do so the Catholic Church as we know it will implode.

[AStranger]

09:50 AM on 09/30/2011

"The sad thing here is that none of the kids who were abused will ever beleive that Christ is their savior and God is their protector. "

No, the sad thing is that they were abused and tortured and in many cases the people who committed the crimes never truly faced justice.

Considering what the representatives of "god" did to them, I wouldn't blame them for not thinking of god as their protector since god did nothing to protect them.

[johnnyrock555]

05:35 PM on 09/28/2011

I understand being sickened by the Church's handling of the molestation charges, I myself have stopped going to church because of this issue but the people on this website are enjoying taking shots at this horrible situation. Which of you shall cast the first stone.

[juna]

07:19 PM on 09/28/2011

I would venture to say that most of us have not abused and tortured children, at least.

[Hysterian68]

07:19 PM on 09/28/2011

This is not a simple case of a sinner being unfairly accused by someone who is also a sinner. This is a situation of wide-spread, systemic corruption this pope refuses to face up to and to do anything about.

Read the Rev. Hans Kung's recent interview with "Der Spiegle" and see for yourself how morally bankrupt the entire hierarchy is. Out of 5000 bishops, not one to stand up to the rot and decay within the Vatican.

[johnnyrock555]

08:36 PM on 09/29/2011

I agree with you, the Church's insistence on protecting the guilty clergy is the reason why I left. Pedolphelia can be found where ever children are (schools, summer camps, athletic groups etc). The Church being more concerned with it's reputation than with the children is unacceptable and a sign that the clergy is more detached from the American family than ever I could have imagined. I left the Church because of the priest, bishops, Cardinals and Popes that consider the reputation of the Church to be more important than the safety of children in their care.
My problem with the people leaving comments on this page is the absolute glee with which they leave their comments. One would be left to believe that these people are happy that this is happening. These people are having fun and making jokes as if it is a fart joke not child molestation that we are talking about. I know there are many people that hate God and revel in the opportunity to mock the Church but there is a time for that and this is not it.

[graceaustin]

01:51 PM on 09/28/2011

I can't get my head around being a member of organized religion in view of this kind of behavior. Mankind is strange.

[johnnyrock555]

05:35 PM on 09/28/2011

Disorganized religion is worse. Ask Jim Jones' followers had it worked out for them.

[graceaustin]

07:10 PM on 09/28/2011

Lol, jones followers were organized. The best way in matters of the spirit, is to use the brains you're born with, and find you're own way.

[Harh]

12:47 PM on 09/28/2011

Like the Greek Mythology religions of this era will become Myths in the future because they are superficial offering very little truth, already Atheism is rapidly growing in Europe.

[Stokes]

08:24 AM on 09/28/2011

We are entering an era of conversion to the true unrevised teachings of Christ and will encounter violent opposition mainly from those who claim to be followers of Christ. As the Catholics who can no longer tolerate the deceit of the Hierarchy leave , they will seek a personal relationsh­ip to the Spirit of Christ. I am a former Catholic, but I believe in the promises of Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Not as the catholic church interprets them.”

[johnnyrock555]

05:46 PM on 09/28/2011

Let me guess, you found another church that taught you all of the things that the Catholic Church does wrong. This is an age old trick of Protestantism that goes back hundreds of years. Most born again churches use the same list of "wrong teachings". This is a way for churches to get more money in the in the collection plate. Most of the "wrong teachings" are not wrong, the newer church's just don't understand the Catholics teachings. Be careful who you listen to and research the church's official stand not what the new church tells you is the official teaching. I fell for this scam in college but I quickly realized that the new church was clueless to Catholic teachings they were just repeating the lies used by Protestant churches to lure Catholics in. As far as a "personal relationship" with God goes, most of the churches that offer this are the ones that I learned to be cautious of. Same thing goes for faith healing, talking in tongues, name it and claim it and snake handling.

[Hysterian68]

07:27 PM on 09/28/2011

When all the claims to primacy and infallibility by manipulating the historical record of the first 1000 years are stacked up along side the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, the use of forged documents of early Christian writers, and produced the Donation of Constantine, then you will understand why the Roman Church relies so heavilty upon hocus pocus and pious prattle emanating from apparitions in order to expand its power.

[charlesrfd2003]

05:06 AM on 09/29/2011

Sorry, there is another choice. The independent Catholic Church is not Protestant. The theology is Catholic but the lies are absent.

Why should any Catholics put up with what is going on in Montana, Kansas City or Philadelphia. The list goes on with arrogance, sexual crimes, and money crimes.

As far as teaching what the Catholic Church does wrong, I was given a sense of right and wrong by mother and by a saintly Catholic priest. What I see the Roman Curia doing and what I see so many bishops and priests doing is simply wrong. Such behavior repels and instead of attracts and that is the reason for the empty pews and the youth leaving.

[Indigo1941]

07:26 AM on 09/28/2011

There's very little left to say, it's time for action. Drive the priests out of every community, stone the buildings, take the roofs off the churches and haul away the windows. Let them rot!

[ThinkCreeps]

11:04 AM on 09/28/2011

Item one's good, but there's no reason to trash what in some cases could still be perfectly functional buildings, and a reminder of the kind of primordial nonsense that we're all growing out of.

[Hysterian68]

07:29 PM on 09/28/2011

Don't stop with the churches,. Continue with the temples and shrines to deliberate falsehoods, myths, superstition, and stupidity everywhere.

[Andrew Brennan]

05:49 AM on 09/28/2011

From the Ryan Report: Chapter 8.128 - Br Sorel made the shocking admission that he forced a boy to eat his own excrement. The boy was not a complainant to the Investigation Committee but the incident was recounted by a complainant who had witnessed it. The Brother [] in response to the Investigation Committee accepted that the allegation was true. He told the Committee:

"Well the thing has haunted me all my life It should never have happened Actually he didn’t eat the excrement he spat it into the basin, that doesn’t matter it was .. totally wrong, and I accept full responsibility for it. It was cruel." When asked by the Committee why he did it, he said that he was stressed by having to cope with boys who soiled themselves, particularly during the night. He asked colleagues what he should do about one particular boy:

"A few days before I mentioned this to some of the staff, “what will I do”, I couldn’t get any help from anybody. One of them quite cynically said, “make him eat his own s**t ....

He added that as soon as he had calmed down he knew he had gone too far and he subsequently apologised to the boy in question.

Source: http://www.childabusecommission.com/rpt/01-08.php

[ThinkCreeps]

07:05 AM on 09/28/2011

I'm very sure he `made it up' to the child in question.

Truth and reconciliation I guess mean that Sorel won't be serving any hard time as a result of his deeds - I guess all that stuff gets passed off to an imagined post-mortem assessment.

[juna]

07:20 PM on 09/28/2011

I wonder if that child is ready to forgive his abuser.

[jimall3]

07:02 PM on 09/27/2011

Of course they do not criticize the fact that Israel is a religious state which nonJews are forced to live in camps. Amnesty International has saddly become an anti-Catholic and in general anti-Christian group. Like CNN they will attack Catholics Muslims protestants but always give a free pass to Israeli Jewish crimes against humanity.

In short Amnesty Int'l is a political organization like the Museum of Tolerance or AIPAC,

[ThinkCreeps]

07:33 PM on 09/27/2011

Hey lighten up - I think even ratzinger's let go with the blood libel stuff.

[graceaustin]

01:59 PM on 09/28/2011

Frankly, it's you who is sounding political.