Historic Moment in the Vatican – Irish Bishops, Pope, Sexual Abuse Crisis
This week, a historic moment in the Vatican’s response to the global clergy sex-abuse scandals arrived as Ireland’s 24 diocesan bishops began an unprecedented two-day summit with Pope Benedict and his senior Curia over the devastating fallout of November’s Murphy Report on the history of abuse and its handling in the archdiocese of Dublin.
While the American cardinals were addressed by Pope John Paul II and met with the relevant heads of dicasteries nearly four months after the outbreak of the US’ edition of the crisis in 2002, never before has an entire national bench been summoned to Rome on the hot-button issue… and neither has a pontiff himself led the discussions as Benedict XVI did with his Irish visitors. Whisper’s in the Loggia (week of Feb 14, 2010) has a number of posts and links to read more about this historic meeting at the Vatican about a crisis that has caused and continues to cause excruciating pain, suffering, and scandal to Catholics (victims, laity, and clergy) around the world.
