There is something systematically wrong with Catholic Church
Fr D’arcy slams leaders over sex abuse scandal
SOMETHING is “systematically wrong” in the Catholic Church which fails to accept the abuse and suffering of young children, Fr Brian D’arcy has claimed.
He was speaking after Pope Francis began a conference by urging bishops and senior clergy to listen to “the cry of the little ones who are seeking justice”.
The four-day gathering is being attended by Catholic leaders worldwide and is aimed at addressing the horrendous sexual abuse of children.
But critics believe it is a “publicity stunt” and the outspoken priest said he was sceptical about the tone of the pontiff, having heard similar sentiments many times before.
He added: “I was just thinking while I was at Mass, ‘How many times have I been interviewed on this over the past 25 years?’
“And you’d wonder is this any different? I’m not sure it is any different, that’s the sad part of it. There’s something systematically wrong within the set-up in the Church that’s failed to acknowledge the damage the abuse of children and young people results in.
“But there’s something even worse, there’s this failure to acknowledge that it’s an ongoing, deeplyrooted within the system itself, failure and unless we tackle that everything else is merely window dressing.
“I’m of a belief Pope Francis is correct in this, but I’m not sure he is always fully-understanding of how difficult it is for those that have been abused.
“He’s doing his best here and he’s never short on good words on this issue, that at least is a start. But this demands more than good words, it demands a re-establishment of broken trust and that’s much more than four days in the Vatican can do.” Fr D’arcy, 72, told Sean O’rourke on RTE Radio 1 the Catholic Church is a maledominated structure with a “far greater percentage of paedophiles than any other similar group in the world”.
He said: “Normally it’s accepted between 3% and 4% of the population have paedophilic tendencies.
“By any stretch of the imagination it’s between 7% and 8% within priests.” He added it is only when women, including mothers and parents, make the rules that things can change.
He’s doing his best.. but this demands more than good words
fr brian d’arcy
On POPE’S ADDRESS