Ben writes: I was chatting with a couple of the guys from Mirfield and we were discussing footballers who had come to visit Mirfield. The names we have come up with so far are:
· Willie Bell (Leeds United & Scottish International)
· Johnny Quigley (Huddersfield Town)
· Mike O’Grady (Leeds United & Huddersfield)
· Some player from Rotherham who was the cousin of somebody at the college. I thought his surname was Casey – could be wrong
Anybody know of any others?
Does anyone remember Peabod’s God Squad?
Mark
Francis apologises for sexual abuse of children by priests and vows tough sanctions for perpetrators
11 April 2014 15:19 by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
“I feel called to take responsibility for all the evil some priests – large in number, but not in proportion to the total – have committed and to ask forgiveness for the damage they’ve done with the sexual abuse of children,” Pope Francis said.
“The Church is aware of this damage,” and is committed to strengthening child protection programmes and punishing offenders, he told members of the International Catholic Child Bureau during a meeting today at the Vatican.
The remarks appeared to be the Pope’s first apology for the sex abuse scandal, following earlier statements affirming the Vatican’s work investigating and punishing perpetrators, and encouraging bishops to support abuse victims. The Pope also has said the church deserves to be forced to make monetary settlements to victims.
In December, Pope Francis established a Vatican commission to promote improved child protections policies throughout the Church.
Meeting with leaders of the International Catholic Child Bureau, an organisation based in France and dedicated to defending children’s rights, Pope Francis said it was hard to believe “men of the Church” would commit such horrors.
“We don’t want to take a step backward in dealing with this problem and with the sanctions that must be imposed,” the Pope said. “On the contrary, I believe we must be very strong. You don’t play with children’s lives!”
Pope Francis also spoke about the importance of defending children’s right “to grow in a family with a mother and father able to create a healthy environment for their growth and affective maturity,” which includes “maturing in relationship to the masculinity and femininity of a father and a mother.”
Parents have a right to determine the appropriate “moral and religious education” of their children, he said, and should not be subject to school curriculums that are thinly veiled courses of indoctrination into whatever ideology is strongest at the moment.
The pope said he wonders sometimes whether parents are “sending a child to school or to a re-education camp” like those run by dictatorial governments.
Obviously, he said, children need help in responding to the problems and challenges contemporary culture and the media raise. Young people can’t be kept in “glass jars,” but must be given the values that will help them evaluate what cultural trends respect their dignity and freedom and the dignity and freedom of others.
Below is a translation of the Pope’s words, courtesy of Vatican Radio:
Dear friends,
I thank you for this meeting. I appreciate your efforts on behalf of children: it is a concrete and current expression of the predilection that the Lord Jesus has for them.
We can say that the BICE was born of the motherhood of the Church. In fact, it originates from Pope Pius XII’s intervention in defence of children in the aftermath of World War II. Since then, this organisation has always been committed to promoting the protection of children’s rights, and to contributing to the 1989 UN Convention. And in this his work it constantly collaborates with the Holy See offices of the in New York, in Strasbourg and especially Geneva .
[moving away from script speech]… I feel compelled to personally take on all the evil which some priests, quite a few in number, obviously not compared to the number of all the priests, to personally ask for forgiveness for the damage they have done for having sexually abused children. The Church is aware of this damage, it is personal, moral damage carried out by men of the Church, and we will not take one step backward with regards to how we will deal with this problem, and the sanctions that must be imposed. On the contrary, we have to be even stronger. Because you cannot interfere with children…
In our days, it is important to carry out the projects against slave – labour, against the recruitment of child soldiers and all forms of violence against children. On a positive note, we must reaffirm the right of children to grow up in a family with a father and a mother capable of creating a suitable environment for the child’s development and emotional maturity.
At the same time, this implies supporting the right of parents to decide the moral and religious education of their children. And in this regard I would like to express my rejection of any kind of educational experimentation with children. We cannot experiment with children and young people. The horrors of the manipulation of education that we experienced in the great genocidal dictatorships of the twentieth century have not disappeared; they have retained a current relevance under various guises and proposals and, with the pretence of modernity, push children and young people to walk on the dictatorial path of “only one form of thought”.
[moving away from script speech] A week ago a great teacher said to me … “with these education projects I don’t know if we’re sending the kids to school or a re-education camp” …
Working for human rights presupposes the aim of fostering anthropological formation, of being well prepared on the reality of the human person, and knowing how to respond to the problems and challenges posed by contemporary culture and widespread mentality propagated by the mass media.
[moving away from script speech] Obviously this does not mean we should cover them with forms of protection that are superseded today because they belong to a past culture … Not this, this is no good … we should propose the positive values of the human person the new culture…
For you, this means offering your managers and operators continuing formation on the anthropology of the child, because that is where the rights and obligations have their foundation . It is upon this that the formation of educational projects rest.
[moving away from script speech] These projects obviously must progress, mature and accommodate itself to the signs of the times always remember human identity and freedom of conscience …
Thank you again. I wish you a Buon lavoro.
Ever since the disclosures of abuse I have been waiting for some sort of defence or at least some explanation as to why these events happened, were allowed to happen and why there is a stone wall tactic over these events.
To that end I have come up with a few thoughts, in absence of anyone else offering a defence. Any quotes used will be from “The case of the Pope” by Geoffrey Robertson. First off a priest after ordination dose not attain supper human powers, he is a man with the same desires and needs of any normal man. What happens at ordination is that he vows to keep these needs and desires under control, supressed. Why? is it because this kind of mental control will elevate him above lay people or perhaps it is just that the church demands it.
” Certainly, the commitment to celibacy and the church’s condemnation of masturbation as a mortal sin sets up an unendurable tension for many priests, and senior churchmen have accepted that up to half are in some way “sexually active”. This does not explain why so many -on some estimates, from 6-9 per cent- are sexually active with children. The priesthood offers incomparable opportunity and spiritual power for paedophiles , and some have infiltrated it , but most offenders appear to be psycho- sexually immature, often in denial about their condition and hoping that the rigours of the priesthood will protect them from themselves. Instead they find a brotherhood, a sodality that closes ranks to protect them not from themselves but from the consequences of their actions, because the overriding philosophy of their superiors has been to avoid scandal to the church. This translates into a culture of ready forgiveness for sexual sins. Richard Snipe, a former priest turned psychiatrist, argues that the prevalence of masturbation in seminaries and the ready forgiveness in confession, “forms a cycle of guilt that binds clerics and confessors together wherein sexual transgressions become minimalized and trivialized -even sex with minors becomes just another sin to be forgiven.”
So here we have part of the problem .A man ,an ordinary man ,is asked the impossible, suppress all you natural desires, and when (not if) you fail you will be forgiven. With every breach comes forgiveness.
Secondly “facts that are now emerging show that sexual abuse of children by priests in the catholic church has been at a level considerably above that in any other organization, and that it has been covered up by many bishops with the support and at the direction of the Vatican. the cover up has included an almost visceral refusal to call in the police, the swearing of complainants and witnesses to utter secrecy, and proceedings under a clandestine Canon Law biased towards the accused priest and in any event threatening no real punishment for the guilty.”
CANON LAW the big stick to threaten any priest. The Vatican describes itself as an absolute monarchy in which the pope has full legislative, executive and judicial powers, in other words it is a law unto itself. The ambassadors of the Vatican are it’s clergy and in certain cases seem to be able, under canon law, to claim diplomatic immunity.
So in defence of the order they are bound by Canon Law and must believe that the church will do the right thing I suppose in the same way that a suicide bomber can justify his actions through his religious beliefs. I hope that this has brought some clarity .Individuals were only following the rules, blame the pope!!
I would be grateful for any comments
Degs
Ben Berrell writes:
Thought you all might like to read the evidence provided by Cardinal Pell at a Royal Commission being currently held in Australia. It is insightful in that it provides insights into how the “Vatican” views people who seek justice regarding sexual abuse.
Follow this link:
It is also sad in that Pell is attempting to distance himself from the hardliners of the Vatican making out that the Australian Catholic Church is different from its Vatican counterparts. The reality is that is not the case and Australian Catholics seeking redress have been met with the same stony resistance that the Vatican employ. I for one will be glad to see the back of him as he makes his way into a “sheltered cushy role” that will further protect him from future scrutiny.
Hello,
When I wrote on the Mirfield Blog just after it began, in August 2011 I did not want readers to know my name. When I posted or commented on the blog, I wanted to be known as A Mirfield Boy – a safe name that could apply to dozens of seminarians from Mirfield.
However, a comment by another person on the blog – it was around two years ago – made me think. Why am I remaining incognito.? What have I done that is so wrong that I do not want other men, my ex seminarians, my friends – some whom I am very close to – not to know who I am?
My name is Mark Murray, and not A Mirfield Boy. Why hide? So, I ‘came out’. From then on, I was Mark Murray.
It is clear to me, why, at that specific time, I chose to be known as a Mirfield Boy – I did not want readers of the blog to know about my time at Mirfield. I was not ready to write and disclose, on the internet, some of my experiences at Mirfield.
Dealing with the distorted feelings of guilt, shame, fear and many more emotions play a part in the process that many have to confront when coming to terms with the abuse they experienced as a child. The time to talk, disclose or write has to be right; the circumstances in peoples’ lives have to be right; and those distorted feelings have to be looked at.
It can take a long time to arrive at that position. It often takes more time, energy and courage than people can muster, and hence, we have many adults that were abused as children killing themselves.
However, the Mirfield Blog, has enabled, I believe, many people that otherwise would have suffered, and felt alone, to realise that they are no longer on their own.
Numerous children that were abused, especially by religious, grow up, believing the abuse only happened to them. Unfortunately, in my experience, this only highlights and compounds their feelings of guilt and shame; with the abused believing that somehow, they must have been responsible for what happened.
It is good that the Mirfield Blog has helped many people to talk, write, discuss and think about their time at Mirfield.
The truth will come out. And for those that need others there are others there – you are not alone.
What do others think.?
Best wishes to all,
Where is the happy stuff?
Mark
I hope you dont mind an outsider writing into your blog, maybe especially since I am a priest, Mark Murray’s local priest in fact. Mark introduced me to your blog.
Reading your entries has brought me great sadness and anger, and also shame at the priesthood to which I belong, and also deep powerlessness at my inability to help address these issues other than in small ways. And this by no means for the first time, I must add. But also I’m very aware that these feelings are nothing compared to what many of you have experienced, and at a very tender and innocent age. It must surely take some courage to write as you’ve been doing. I have to say what you guys have been writing has also made me increasingly aware of the privilege it’s been to have walked alongside Mark and to have shared his journey over four years. Mark’s courage and humility in sharing his pain and seeking an apology is, to me, deeply impressive. As a priest I’ve met over thirty-two years many people carrying pain but and it always inspires me to meet those who have carried pain and huge disruption of life with dignity, balance and great courage, as Mark does and, from what I’m reading, as so many of you alongside him seem to do. During my life I’ve listened to several people who have suffered at the hands of people who exploit and abuse vulnerable people sexually, and I’m sure this is why I could more easily receive and understand Mark’s experiences.
I’m writing to express solidarity, if this is acceptable to you, (and I will understand if it isn’t.) It’s terrible to me that people treated this way should feel alone in their predicament as some of you have stated on the blog. This isn’t simply about individual predators slipping into an otherwise saintly church. For me its about a church culture which fails to perceive and address its own systems which blindside us to what’s going on – clericalism for example, and the puerile way sexuality is dealt with and the lack of real dialogue. I’m also writing to express my shame in regard to the examples of terrible behaviour and cover-up in the Church I represent and my deep regret at what has happened for all of you. Finally, I’m writing to offer my support, if this is relevant. These evils will keep occurring as long as we suppress painful truths. I believe we need to understand the causes and shape of this evil.
Mark came to ask my help towards seeking an apology from the Verona/Comboni Fathers four years ago. All he was asking of them was the acknowledgment of the pain and hurt caused by the way various Verona/Comboni priests used their seminarians as sexual objects when you were all young , innocent and vulnerable boys preparing to become priests. From this he hoped for some resolution and maybe a liberation which might come with acknowledgment – so crucial for healing. Hence I recall, even though well aware of the realities of this issue in the church, being shocked and angered, time after time, at the variety and shape of the brick walls Mark and I have met up with. Both society and church suppress their dark sides – but as one of you observed – this is distinctively different and much more crucial when it happens in the Church.
Thanks for your blog. It’s an important document – please keep it going.
The Mirfield blog, I believe, has been a very good way for people to write about their Mirfield memories. For some, the memories are good and happy, for others they are not.
Many people have written on the blog because, for them, they now feel, they have strength in numbers, a lot of people are watching and writing. This enables and helps them to write and communicate about what happened to them when they were children at Mirfield. It is, for many, the first time that they have been able to do this. It takes a massive amount of courage.
The truth, i am sure will come out.
A final point: a large number that write on the blog were never abused, but they write in support, and to those supportive people a massive thank you from Kevin and myself.
Keep on writing.
If there are people out there – and i know there are – put some good and happy stuff on about Mirfield.
Come on Mick! — and all the others!
Mark
Thanks Gerry.
Click on the link below – four years before my time, but sill very interesting.
Mark
Here are the names of the team:
The Verona Fathers team 1965, which played at Roe Head. Pictured are Michael Moroney (from Wallasey), Peter Hall (from Bolton), John Brown (from Belfast), Eddie Roberts (Stockton), Gerry McLaughlin (Greenock in Scotland), John O’Shea (Liverpool), Joe Gitos, Martin Murphy (Liverpool), Peter O’Hagan (Liverpool), ‘Spike’ Brown (Leeds), Paul Deegan (Port Glasgow in Scotland) and Father John Pinkman (Liverpool).
Written By Tom Doyle
Pope Francis has astounded, thrilled, encouraged — and disappointed people from the moment he walked out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s attired in a white cassock and not in the layers of pontifical finery as has been customary for newly elected popes.
He has said and done much in his first year that has given encouragement to those hoping the institutional church will finally start to look and act like the Body of Christ. But everything he has done is muted by the reality that as far as the church’s most profound problem and greatest challenge is concerned, he has done almost nothing.
His comments about clerical sex abuse reported March 5 in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera make it clear that he is using the same tired and irrelevant playbook the bishops have worn out over the past few years.
The worldwide scourge of sexual violation and abuse by clergy of all ranks, publicly revealed since the mid-1980s, is a blight on the face of the church that makes the other problems pale by comparison. Money laundering and the related financial scandals are certainly sensational and scandalous but they are nothing compared to the lying, manipulation and harsh response to victims that have marked the sexual abuse issue since it first became public knowledge.
A year has passed and Pope Francis’ moves have been minimal. He made sex abuse a crime in the Vatican City State, a move so meaningless it is almost comical. He has not made a major or even a minor pronouncement about the problem and he has done little about bishops who have enabled perpetrators. In July of last year a bishop accused of violating minors was quickly laicized (Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Miranda of Ayacucho, Peru), a sound move for sure, but what of the bishops who have continued to harbor criminal abusers and punish innocent victims by encouraging brutal tactics in the civil courts?
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Three months ago the Vatican announced it would establish a commission of experts to study the problem, yet to date nothing has been done. The pope doesn’t need another commission and more experts to create more reports with more public expressions of concern. Without doubt any such commission would approach clergy sex abuse from the perspective of the needs of the institutional church with the primary goal the restoration of its credibility. That’s the way it has worked with every church appointed commission on any level. Doing it that way is doing it backwards.
The first order of business should be the pastoral care and spiritual welfare of the countless men and women whose lives have been shattered and whose souls have been deeply wounded by the sexual abuse itself and by the subsequent spiritual abuse inflicted by the church’s leaders. The victims and people in general don’t need any more proclamations telling them what they already know.
There is only one category of response that is acceptable and that is decisive action. No more secrecy. No more denials. No more self-praise and above all, no more tolerance of bishops who have spent millions of donated dollars and Euros trying to preserve themselves at the expense of their victims.
In his interview with Corriere della Sera Wednesday, Francis sounds like he is reading from a script that should have been abandoned years ago: “The Catholic church is maybe the only public institution to have moved with transparency and responsibility … No one else has done more. Yet the church is the only one to be attacked.” Unfortunately Holy Father, the Catholic church has not moved with transparency and responsibility. It has done just the opposite. Whoever prepared the pope’s briefing papers on the sex abuse issue ought to be fired.
Pope Benedict may have, as the pope said, been “courageous” in confronting the scandals but what he did should not have been an act of courage but a normal, expected response to a nightmare that has been sinking the church’s credibility and effectiveness and ruining innocent members. Pope Benedict did more than any other recent pope and certainly far more than John Paul II, whose inaction amounted to further enabling of the bishops. Yet his words were followed by some bureaucratic steps but no decisive action that gave hope to victims and survivors.
When the U.N. released its blistering critic of the Holy See’s culpability in the sex abuse crisis, the Vatican reacted with its customary narrow-minded arrogance, accusing the U.N. panel of not understanding how the church works and of interfering with sacred doctrinal issues. Part of the sting in the report was precisely that the committee did understand how the Vatican system works and didn’t fall for the smokescreen that it is only responsible for the territory of Vatican City. As far as the doctrinal issues are concerned, those brought up in the report all have direct bearing on the plague of sexual abuse perpetrated by clerics and covered by the leadership. The pope probably saw the report or at least parts of it. That report and the victims who testified before the U.N. commission in Geneva should constitute the mandate and membership of the promised commission, not bishops and cardinals who have been part of the problem and can hardly be part of the solution.
The survivors of abuse and countless others from the church and from society in general have been waiting for three decades for evidence that the institutional church “gets it.” There not only is no real evidence that it has, but from all appearances the hierarchy will remain on the defensive, hoping the problem will go away. There will continue to be change and progress in the world-wide efforts to bring healing and justice to victims and to force the church to be accountable but the agents of this will continue to be the same ones who have been forging the way since the beginning: the survivors and their supporters.
At this stage the best thing the institutional leadership could do is follow a bit of solid military tactical advice: “Either lead, follow or get out of the way.”
[Tom Doyle is a priest, canon lawyer, addictions therapist and longtime supporter of justice and compassion for clergy sex abuse victims. He is a co-author of the first report ever issued to the U.S. bishops on clergy sex abuse, in 1986)
Comboni Missionaries 