Pope Details Apostolic Visitation For Ireland To Focus On Sexual Abuse

Zenit reported yesterday on a Vatican Statement (full text) setting out the details of an Apostolic Visitation of certain dioceses, seminaries and religious congregations in Ireland this Fall. The Visitation is a further Vatican response (see prior posting) to a massive report issued by an Irish Commission last year on child abuse at Catholic institutions in Ireland from 1936 to the present. (See prior posting.) According to yesterday's Statement, the Visitor to each diocese or institution, who include the Archbishops of New York, Boston and Toronto:

will set out to explore more deeply questions concerning the handling of cases of abuse and the assistance owed to the victims; they will monitor the effectiveness of and seek possible improvements to the current procedures for preventing abuse, taking as their points of reference the Pontifical Motu Proprio "Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela" and the norms contained in Safeguarding Children: Standards and Guidance Document for the Catholic Church in Ireland, commissioned and produced by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church.

AP yesterday reported that U.S. victims' groups said the Church should have looked outside its own hierarchy in dealing with the issue. It also reported that the Pope has accepted the resignation of Irish-born archbishop Richard Burke who, as a priest in Nigeria, according to accusations, had a 20-year relationship with a woman that began when she was 14. Burke, who was previously suspended, claims he had sex with the woman only after she turned 18.