For some, Papal visit is a reminder of pain and hurt
WHILE for thousands of people travelling to the Phoenix Park on Sunday, the occasion of the visit of Pope Francis is a joyous and historic one, for some it’s an all too painful reminder of the hurt and pain caused by the organisation he represents. Colm O’Gorman endured sexual abuse at the hands of one of the country’s most notorious paedophile priests, Fr Sean Fortune, from 1981 to 1983 – between the ages of 15 and 18. Before this, he recalled the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ireland having a major impact on him.
‘I remember hearing the Pope saying “Young people of Ireland, I love you” and it having a big effect on me,’ he said. ‘I thought it meant something. I was 13 years old. I was in the CBS in Wexford. I was part of the Rowe Street Choir and the folk group. The church was a big part of my life. About 18 months after that, I was raped for the first time by a priest. Life was very tough after that.
‘In the 90s then I returned to Wexford to report the abuse and about 18 months after that, I found out the church knew about the abuse. Two Bishops, Bishop Hurley and Bishop Commiskey, all the way up to the Papal Nuncio were aware of what was going on and it was covered up. So when I see all the media coverage about the Pope’s visit this time around, I think back to 13-year-old me, hearing those words from Pope John Paul, and then I think of myself in my late 20s when I realised that those words were completely untrue.’
While Pope Francis’ visit is set to be a major PR exercise for the church, survivors of abuse have been left infuriated by the Vatican and the Pope’s reluctance to deal with the major elephant in the room as they arrive in a country where systematic abuse was so commonplace.
‘It quickly became clear to me that the Vatican and the Pope have little regard for children and their safety,’ Colm said. ‘The cover-ups of rape and abuse extended from the level of Bishops to Cardinals and right up to Popes. I anticipated, as has happened in other countries, that during the course of this visit they’d have a private meeting with a select group. Afterwards statements would leak from sources close to the Pope saying that he sympathised with
the victims and prayed with them and this would be repeated in the media as an apology. It would have just been a box-ticking PR exercise anyway, but the fact it’s an afterthought is unacceptable.’
However, when Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in recent weeks stated that the Pope ‘may not have time’ to meet with abuse victims, it served as a further slap in the face to abuse survivors like Colm.
‘It certainly says something about the priorities of the Vatican,’ he said. ‘The fact that nothing has been put in place shows an enormous disregard not only for people who have been abused, but also communities around the country that have been impacted. We all know of lives that have been lost because of the harm done by the church. In 1998 I made the big decision to sue the Pope as a means of trying to get the Vatican to tell the truth regarding abuse,’ Colm continued. ‘In 2003, they used diplomatic immunity to avoid having to tell the truth. All these years later and I’m still asking them to tell the damn truth and acknowledge the deliberate cover up of these crimes.’
While Colm is critical of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, he is keen to stress that this is by no means an attack on people of faith. ‘Yes, we have an inspirational figure coming to this country this week,’ he said. ‘But he is also the head of a state that has been directly involved in some of the gravest and most systematic human rights violations this country has ever seen. The critical thing is that people have to separate the faith from the institution. I’d demand that the Pope be properly held accountable, but that’s not an attack on the faith itself or people of faith. I know a lot of people will make the trip to Dublin and I respect those making the trip. People of faith have also been horrendously let down when it comes to the cover up of these crimes.’
While the Phoenix Park will undoubtedly be enveloped by a sea of people on Sunday, a short distance away in the Garden Of Remembrance at 3 p.m. Colm will be attending a much smaller get together.
‘What we’re doing is not in any way a protest against the Papal visit,’ he explained. ‘Basically its a coming together in solidarity for anyone who has been harmed or hurt by the church, along with friends, family and supporters. We’ll stand together for truth, justice and love and show that this is a different Ireland than the one Pope John Paul came to in 1979.
‘We want to see transparency and accountability. The reaction so far has been fantastic. I’ve been swamped with people wanting to get involved and show support and help to organise. I don’t know what the attendance will be, I assume in the thousands, but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about standing together in solidarity.’