"We are not going to get open, transparent answers from the Catholic Church."
A comment from Andrew Madden on RTE1 Radio lunchtime news today.
Andrew Madden was suxually abused by a priest of the Dublin diocese.
If his comment is untrue, then the Irish bishops should respond and correct it.
If it is true, what is to be done?
This is all appalling. What is worst of all is the silence right across the church. And even sadder is that the silent men think they are being so clever.
Shocking but also revealing.
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6 comments:
Mr. Madden is hardly an objective commentator. Given his comments on the church to date, it is clear that at no stage will he be content with the answers provided. The media use Mr. Madden and others like him to sell their product. Be assured that the media have far less regard for his welfare than the chutch does. Being a victim does not make one an expert on the causes of abuse, organizational or personal, despite Mr. Madden's apparent belief in the absolute truth of his unique insights! Perhaps you might dedicate some blog time to the real experts who get so little airtime.
Is it fair for someone to decide what makes Andrew Madden 'content'.
It is unfortunate to refer to '.. and others like him'.
A core part of any decent democracy is a free media.
You make some points that deserve discussion. A pity you are signed 'anonymous' - something the media always avoids.
Another point.
Andrew Madden was an altar boy. No doubt his parents were associated with the priests in the parish. They probably trusted the priests.
And then their small boy is sexually abused and the church covers up.
There will be many people in the Dublin archdiocese who will have annulment letters signed by the man who assaulted little Andrew Madden.
The language, the tone of your comment is worrying, indeed, upsetting.
1. The reference to Mr. Madden being content is based on his public utterances to date and s a valid opinion. The reference to others like him is a reference to victims, who are routinely used by the media and bloggers like yourself to score points in a different debate. Media are free but many commentators and bloggers ave a preset agenda, like your confrere who publishes Alive. Please lay off the use of Anonymous. The media refer to sources all the time without naming them, many of which are contrived. So much for attributuion in every case.
Your use of the present tense regarding the abuse in question is disingenuous: the diocese in question has fully acknowledged its failures in this regard and the man involved served a prison sentence. That you are worried, indeed upset, is of little consequence given how frequently you disparage others in the church with scant regard to how worried or upset they may be by your own abusive assaults.
It would be refreshing if you were to bring your capable and critical eye to bear on all sides equally in the abuse saga without always assuming the accused is wrong and the accusers right.
I hope this will be though provoking rather than worrying to you.
'Alive' and this blog in the one clause.
I say all the time that Rainer Werner Fassbinder is a great film maker. And he's dead at the moment.
Cahrles Dickens is.....
This blog usually uses the third person singular.
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