THE CATHOLIC CHURCH is at “breaking point” in Ireland because of the child abuse scandal, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said.
Martin said revelations of sexual abuse allegations and cover-ups stretching over decades had brought the Church to a crucial stage – and said the scandal was not over yet.
Asked about the consequences of the abuse scandals for the Church as an institution, he said: ”It has reached a breaking point. It’s at a very difficult stage.”
Archbishop Martin was speaking for an upcoming CBS News 60 Minutes programme. He continued by rejecting suggestions that the Church should attempt to move past the abuse revelations, saying:
The’re a real danger today of people saying the child abuse scandal is over, let’s bury it, let’s move on. It isn’t over. Child protection and the protection of children is something that will go on for the rest of our lives and into the future, beacuse the problems are there.
The programme will be broadcast in the US tomorrow.
Martin recently called for the Catholic Church in Ireland to take a “different, more humble” form as he welcomed new Papal Nuncio Charles Brown.
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