The leader of Church in Ireland says clerical abuse has caused immense damage and trauma not only to the lives of victims and their families, but it has also broken the heart and spirit of many priests. Source: The Tablet.
At the 50th National Day of Intercession for Priests on August 4 at Ireland’s International Eucharistic and Marian Shine in Knock, Armagh Archbishop Eamon Martin said abuse had damaged priestly fraternity, credibility and the “precious trust” between priests and their people.
There are many times, he said, when priests feel their brokenness, woundedness and their need for God, especially when they learn that some of their brother priests have committed awful sins and crimes of abuse.
He told the assembled priests that one of the greatest challenges they face is to be “good news” for the world even though they may see their priesthood undermined or attacked.
The annual intercession for priests, he said, had helped remind priests that priesthood is not like other jobs or professions because “it is subsumed into our whole being. Our priesthood is not our own. It is a share in the priesthood of Christ”.
Separately in his homily for an open-air Mass on the Hill of Slane in County Meath for the “Light the Fire” faith event, Archbishop Martin appealed to the faithful not to allow the flame of the Holy Spirit to be quenched in Ireland.
Acknowledging that these are challenging times for the faith, he said many have drifted away from practising, distracted by “a frantic world of materialism and consumerism” and the superficial promises of easy pleasure and success.
“We must be alert to the false gods that surround us, and their empty promises, stealing away life and happiness from our people through addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling and gaming; destroying the hearts and minds of our children through unfiltered access to misinformation and harmful content online,” he warned.
FULL STORY
Clerical abuse damaged credibility and trust, says Archbishop (By Sarah Mac Donald, The Tablet)
