Dear RTÉ Breaking News,
Added on October 7, 2016
Friday 7th October 2016
I would like to bring to your attention some reflections and observations to the issues regarding this proposal where there is still so much be done for victims of Clerical Child Sexual Abuse in Ireland and worldwide.
I read the title of this article and thought it might be a joke? The Catholic Church is fighting to deny clergy child sexual abuse (CCSA) survivors any justice anywhere they can it appears. Recent news would not show that the Catholic Church is in a conciliatory and apologetic mood fit for a prayer vigil where so many still suffer intensely from the profound consequences of their abuse and are denied justice.
I can show from what is happening more recently in other countries there is a relentless distress caused survivors as the Catholic Church fights determinedly to deny victims recourse to justice.
In Pennsylvania, the Catholic Church and insurance lobbyists oppose the PA child sex-abuse bill giving victims the right to sue for CCSA - http://bit.ly/2dPM9Zr.
In New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan supports CCSA victims, but opposes law to sue predators - http://nydn.us/2dev5vi begging the question is the Catholic Church SCARED of the TRUTH? - http://bit.ly/2dsrwVc.
In Guam, the Catholic Church is in crisis over abuse claims (http://bit.ly/2d5jNKj) whilst the Church argues it will suffer devastation if justice is granted CCSA survivors. A happy outcome for CCSA survivors came when Gov. Eddie Calvo signed a bill allowing CCSA victims to sue their abusers, conspirators and affiliated institutions.
In Ireland, the Church and State is failing in its supports and provisional care for the over 18,000 survivors of child abuse whilst they were in the care of the Irish State as children. Survivor support services are due to end in 2018. Justice is fought by the State against those who were sexually abused in primary and secondary schools. Non-RIRB child abuse survivors have had their funding for provisional care taken out of the monies allocated for RIRB (Residential Institutional Redress Board - now Caranua) survivors through a Memorandum of Understanding.
A Memorandum of Understanding was established in 2014 between Towards Healing and Caranua (http://bit.ly/29hpSAE) which placed financial obligations on the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund to assist in discharging therapeutic costs which are the responsibility of Towards Healing which were to be fulfilled by the ICBC (IEC), IMU and CORI for non-residential institutional CCSA survivors. This represents a raid on the Residential Institution Survivors (and their families') Funds by those tasked with administering provisional care to CCSA (Clerical Child Sexual Abuse) survivors. This raid was agreed by parties who did not consult with Residential Institution Survivors and their Families or indeed CCSA survivors and their families.
The duty of the Catholic Church, clergy and laity, is the observance of the mission of Christ. Theirs is a duty of care to those so horrendously abused as children. It would do us all well to remember Ezekiel 34:4 (http://bit.ly/2dzQIIh) which reminds us of the utter failure of the Catholic Church tasked with the mission to "Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them".
Any protection policy is only as good as the provisional care offered to those whom the protection policy fails. It seems that the Catholic Clergy is poor on the very necessary provisional care to which they are obliged to deliver in the love of God for His children.
Let us pray for such compassion from a clergy which has thwarted many a good act of justice to meet the needs of CCSA survivors worldwide.
Sincerely,
Mark Vincent Healy
Irish Male Survivor who petitioned and met with Pope Francis on 7th July 2014 on behalf of Irish CCSA survivors.
Please find attached my letter of the Day of Our Meeting which I submitted to His Holiness Pope Francis. - http://bit.ly/2e9b2Cr
Mark Vincent Healy
Survivor Campaigner seeking 'Rescue Services' and 'Safe Space Provisioning' for survivors of clerical child sexual abuse
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +353-87-6374006
Twitter: @MarkVHealy
http://www.thejournal.ie/author/mark-vincent-healy/
http://ncronline.org/person/mark-vincent-healy
http://votf.org/Govt_reports/MarkHealy_report_on_NBSCCCI_8-12.pdf