Boston – Voice of the Faithful in Ireland and abroad are angry and disappointed over the results from the Pope’s summit with the bishops of Ireland at the Vatican. Prior to the meeting, Voice of the Faithful’s Irish affiliate made a statement indicating the only way to heal the Church and get to the root of the issue of clerical abuse was for the Pope to address the issue of accountability and for the bishops of Ireland to take responsibility. Reports from the Vatican on the meeting indicate only apologies and sorrow, no signs of responsibility or accountability.

Sean O’Conaill, the acting coordinator of Voice of the Faithful Ireland said that the publication of the Murphy report in November of last year “should have been followed by the immediate resignation of all Irish bishops who had participated in or acceded to this cover up. It should also have triggered an immediate declaration from the papacy that this cover up would be investigated and explained - especially because it is well known to the faithful that this problem extends well beyond Ireland, and implicates the universal Church and its governance from Rome.”

The statement went on to say “The reluctance of implicated bishops to resign, and the failure of the papacy to investigate the cover-up, have so seriously damaged the moral prestige of the office of Catholic bishops, and of the papacy, that recovery may already be impossible. We are alarmed also at reports that the promised papal pastoral may go no further than to repeat empty condemnations of clerical sex abuse, without fully addressing the issue of betrayal of children by bishops.”

You can read the entire statement including requests made to the Irish bishops and the Vatican by visiting www.votfi.com.