Irish Bishops : Symbolism or Action?

This is a letter I sent out today to Irish and UK Media.

To the Editor,

Regarding the THE CATHOLIC Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin and the Cardinal Archbishop of Boston Seán O’Malley, who washed the feet of a carefully selected group Survivors of clerical child sex abuse in “an act of humble service” at Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral, this Sunday February 20th.

This is nothing less than a Roman Catholic Version of 'green-washing'; only direct action by the Church to hand over to the Public Prosecutor all abuser priests, all files relating to allegations made by Survivors, all files related to the Churches private canonical 'investigations' (redacted as required to protect the interests of Survivors, subject to their approval), all files related to various private agreements between the Church Officials and State, Health and Welfare Officials, and Police Officials, and to offer up their wealth and resources to help Survivors, and finally and importantly to let Survivors speak out, as freely as required, that and nothing else.

Action is required, not symbolism. Once the action has been complete, let the symbols of that action be created to inspire a future where the rights of the child, as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on The Rights of The Child, are, in material terms, at the very heart of our Society.

Kindest regards

Corneilius

Do what you love, it's Your Gift to Universe

Here's a  video of The Silent Protest by Survivors outside the Catherdral in Dublin, after the Mass...

The Letter was published in the Irish Independent on 27th February 2011...