Mixed reaction to Pope's apology to Irish abuse victims (News Feature)

By Fiona Smith Mar 21, 2010, 13:38 GMT

Cork, Ireland - The mood was mixed Sunday as the faithful stepped out into the spring sunshine in Kinsale, south-west Ireland, after hearing Pope Benedict XVI say 'sorry' to Irish victims of clerical sexual abuse.

Don Terry, a parishioner in his 70s, seemed unimpressed by what he heard.

'It was as expected. I wasn't surprised,' he said.

He was not disappointed, he said, because what he heard was 'no more than I expected.'

'There was nothing positive in it.'

Pope Benedict XVI's letter, made public Saturday, and read out at all masses in Ireland Sunday acknowledged the failures of the Catholic Church's top clerics in handling cases of child sex abuse.

Although the pontiff apologized to victims, he stopped short of issuing specific disciplinary measures against perpetrators or their superiors.

Patricia, a woman in her 60s, who did not want her full name used, although pleased that there had been an apology, didn't feel that it went far enough.

'I am pleased that the pope did apologize, but there was a lot he didn't say. The pope himself was implicated in a cover-up as far as I understand. If he was involved in covering up child sex abuse, then he should have said so.'

Despite her disappointment, Patricia had no doubt that she would remain loyal to the church and continue to attend mass.

'The priest here is very good and there are a lot of good people working for the church. I would never blame any of those people for what happened.'

She feels that different attitudes towards children in the past were partially to blame for the abuse.

'There was this attitude that we were only children years ago,' she said. 'Children didn't matter.'

Not all parishoners felt that the Pope's response was inadequate: 'I think it was good that the apology was read out. It's about time they did something about it. We only heard excerpts of it, but I thought it was an honest assessment of what happened,' said one parishioner in his 50s who did not want to be named.

His wife admitted that she had not been 'concentrating hard,' but agreed that it was a positive development.

'We would need to read the whole thing to really form an opinion on it,' she said.

As the priest came out of the church beaming, to be greeted by local councillors and well-wishers, it emerged that one man had walked out of the church as the letter was being read out.

'He appeared very deeply affected,' said Joanne O'Donovan, a mother in her 40s, who welcomed the Pope's apology.

'They seem to be now trying to do something for the victims,' she said. 'I think the apology was humble enough and that it was good that he apologized to everyone involved.

The letter was partly prompted by last May's Ryan report detailing decades of abuse in Catholic-run residential homes and reformatories.

Last November, the Murphy report named five senior clerics for their failure to act to stop child abuse.

The leader of the Irish Catholic Church Cardinal Sean Brady has been embroiled in controversy since admitting a week ago that he was at a meeting in 1975 where victims were asked to swear oaths not to reveal the church was investigating notorious paedophile priest Father Brendan Smyth.

Cardinal Brady did not report Smyth to the civil authorities.

Although survivor organization One in Four and abuse survivor Andrew Madden said they were disappointed with the Pope's letter and that it did not go far enough, Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (SOCA) welcomed the 'unprecendented apology' Sunday.

In a statement, quoted by Ireland's national broadcaster RTE, Irish SOCA says it 'represents a highly emotional and long overdue' Papal apology to victims.

It calls the letter a first step on the road to healing for many who had lost faith in the church.

The organization says it will be seeking an urgent meeting with Cardinal Sean Brady to 'discuss its request to the Pope to establish a Commission of the Holy See to examine misconduct by Catholic priests and religious in Ireland.'