Archbishop’s hopes for papal visit to ireland
DUBLIN Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said the Pope should address victims of clerical abuse during his visit to Ireland.
He also hopes the Pontiff will meet members of the Travelling community and “struggling families” when he arrives in August.
However, fears protocol during the two-day visit will not allow Pope Francis enough time to meet those who need help in Irish society.
Speaking with Miriam O’callaghan on RTE Radio 1 yesterday he said: “It’s a very short visit. The Pope is coming for two days.
“I said this, even to the Pope himself last week, that I’m worried some of the protocol issues may take longer than meeting with the poor.
“I believe that when the Pope comes, his great ability is to do things – to offer gestures to people who are marginalised.
“If the institutional, the or the celebratory things take over then we’ve lost.
“We have to see what we can fit in within two days.
Archbishop Martin suggested the Pontiff could visit families relying on emergency accommodation and services offered by the likes of Dublin’s Capuchin Day Centre run by Brother Kevin Crowley. Asked if victims of clerical abuse should be referenced, he added: “Certainly, I think there’s no way the Pope can’t address that.” Archbishop Martin also told of the need for the truth regarding Ireland’s shameful history and his own experiences.
He said: “When I became Archprotocol bishop I was faced the challenge of addressing child sexual abuse in this diocese.
“I can remember one woman coming to me and saying the priest came down and said he wanted the boy to cut the grass and then the boy kept saying, ‘I’m not going to the priest, I’m not going to the priest’.
“She told him, ‘If you go down Mr Smith will give you a shilling and you’ll be done like a light’.
“She put out her hand to me and said, ‘I handed my child over’ and she lived with that grief herself for years.”