The Coadjutor Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has said the response (of the Vatican) to the unfolding clerical child sex abuse crisis had "not been adequate or quick enough".
"Norms and procedures have been put in place but they are not the only answer. It needs more heart and energy. They (at the Vatican) were as shocked as anyone else, the numbers were stunning," he said. He believed the reporting system between Rome and local churches had fallen down on the issue.
Dr Martin was speaking to journalists at a media briefing in the presbytery at Dublin's Pro-Cathedral yesterday. It was intended as an informal "meet and greet" event where he would give details about himself and the Liturgy of Welcome which will be held for him at the Pro-Cathedral this afternoon. It became a wide-ranging question and answer session.
Regarding its handling of clerical sex abuse, Dr Martin said the Church "has to regain credibility and I hope the new Child Protection Office in Dublin, which opens at the end of the month, will help in addressing the issue. It will be assisted by victims. The project will also be about ensuring it doesn't happen again. It will be dealt with rapidly, in a transparent way."
He believed many victims would like to see an approach adopted which was based on more open discussion.
And lawyers, while necessary as part of due process, should not be influential in determining pastoral policy in the area, he said.
It was not the case that the issue could be addressed as though it had just happened once. "Victims carry the hurt all their lives," he said.
"Areas of tension between civil and canon law (on the issue) are very few, but canon law is not there to evade responsibility," he said. He opposed any form of clericalism but called for support for priests.
"In all the scandals many priests were wounded and are in need of a lot of support," he said. He will be meeting Dublin's priests next week and described them yesterday as his "first collaborators".
Responding to a question on celibacy, he said: "I know it is something that could change but at meetings of synods of bishops there was no desire to change."
On inter-church Communion he said: "The norms are very clear. I spent five days with the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church and there was no way I could go to Communion."
Asked whether he saw the Reformed churches as churches in the proper sense he said: "it was at Vatican II the term 'ecclesial communities' was used. Some may not want to be 'sister churches' of the Catholic Church. It is very hard to consider some as such. They didn't want or have an episcopate. It does not mean they are not instruments of God's activity and grace."
On Church/state relations he said: "I have spent all my life dialoguing with government" and he hoped to continue to do so "openly and honestly". If there are tensions I will "meet them head on".
The Catholic Church "has tended to become authoritarian - probably because it is based on authority. I will try to avoid that temptation and be more someone who listens. I have to find a different style of being archbishop." The Irish Church "has been basically authoritarian. It must learn to be a different sort of Church," he said.
As archbishop he would "open windows and let air and light go both ways". He would spend time being an "archbishop as footsoldier", meeting and talking to people.
His major hope would be to redirect resources to evangelisation and to build up new forms of Christian community. His particular concerns would be youth, women, and the tradition of caring and solidarity. Women didn't feel fully welcome in the Church, they had told him. He would like to address that.
The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Dr John Neill, has sent a message to Dr Martin to "assure both him and the cardinal archbishop that they are in my thoughts and prayers on this happy day for the whole Christian Church in our city and diocese".
Dr Neill is in Geneva for meetings of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches.
