The Five Demands

Il Cardinale Brady ha affermato che accetterà di dimittersi solo se a chiederlo sarà il Papa

Il capo della Chiesa Cattolica in Irlanda, Cardinale Sean Brady, ha confessato di aver presenziato ad una riunione nel 1975 durante la quale due ragazzini, vittime di abusi sessuali perpretati da Padre Brendan Smith, furono costretti a fare voto di silenzio sull’accaduto.
A ‘suggerire’ le dimissioni al Card. Brady è stata Samantha che, riferendosi alla Chiesa, ha affermato che è giunta l’ora di ‘sradicare il marcio partendo dalla testa’  ed ha aggiunto: “Questa non è una caccia alle streghe, si tratta di ciò che è giusto”.
Samantha subì abusi sessuali dal 1974 al 1979.
“E’ compito di un adulto proteggere i bambini, indipendentemente se sia stato 35 anni fa o oggi e se lui (il cardinale Brady) avesse fatto quello che avrebbe dovuto fare, non sarebbe stata violentata o maltrattata per quattro di questi cinque anni.
“E io sono uno dei fortunati sfortunati, almeno posso parlare”, continua Samantha.
“Sono ancora vivo, so che due persone che sono state abusate da Brendan Smyth in quella stessa scuola , si sono suicidati”.
E’ stato rivelato che i ragazzini presenti alla riunione presieduta dal Cardinale Brady nel 1975, avessero all’epoca dei fatti rispettivamente 10 e 14 anni.
Il capo della Chiesa Cattolica ha risposto alle richieste di Samantha, affermando che accetterà di dimettersi solo nel momento in cui sarà il Papa a richiederlo.
In sua difesa egli ha dichiarato di aver semplicemente seguito gli ordini pervenuti dal Vescovo, e quanto rivelato non deve essere causa di dimissioni.
“Ora so che con il senno di poi avrei dovuto fare di più”.
“In quel momento ho pensato che stavo facendo quello che mi era stato richiesto di fare, e non solo, ma più efficacemente. Ho agito con grande urgenza per ottenere le prove e produrle”, ha detto.
“In quel momento ho creduto, che stavo seguendo il percorso più efficace per far cessare quanto stava accadendo. Questa è la mia preoccupazione e e sempre la è stata – la sicurezza dei bambini” ed ha aggiunto che ogni sua azione è stata parte di un processo atto ad rimuovere la licenza che permetteva Brendan Smith di agire come prete.
Lo scorso dicembre il cardinale in un’intervista a Rtè, disse che si sarebbe dimesso se una vittima degli abusi avesse dimostrato una colpa a lui attribuile fallendo nel suo compito.
“Vorrei ricordare che l’abuso sessuale dei bambini è un crimine molto grave e se mi fossi trovato in una situazione in cui ero consapevole che la mia incapacità di agire avrebbe permesso o ha fatto sì che altri bambini fossero abusati, ebbene, credo che avrei rassegnato le dimissioni”.
Padre Brendan Smyth è stato un noto pedofilo che si credeva avesse abusato di almeno 20 bambini per un periodo di 40 anni sia nel nord che nel sud dell’Irlanda.
Alla fine fu condannato e incarcerato per più di 90 reati, molti dei quali commessi dopo le riunioni Brady.

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Smyth victim in Brady resign call (BBC News Northern Ireland)
A victim of serial abuser Fr Brendan Smyth has called on the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland to resign.
Cardinal Sean Brady has admitted he was at meetings in 1975 where two abused children signed vows of silence over their complaints against Fr Smyth.
On Monday, a victim of Fr Smyth called Samantha told the BBC the church needed to “root out the rot and start from the top”.
“This is not a witch hunt, this is about what is right,” she added.
The complaints of abuse were investigated by Cardinal Brady in his capacity as secretary to the bishop of Kilmore.
Samantha was abused by Fr Smyth, while she was at boarding school from 1974 to 1979.
“I just feel such sadness and such loss and there is just no need for it, if people had done what they are supposed to do and as adults, forget about the fact that they were priests,” she said.
“It is an adult’s job to protect children, regardless if it was 35 years ago or today and if he (Cardinal Brady) had done what he was supposed to do, I wouldn’t have been raped or abused for four of those five years.
“I just think it is so wrong. And I am one of the lucky unlucky ones, at least I can talk about it.
“I am still alive, I know two people who were abused by Brendan Smyth in that same school who have committed suicide.”
The two children are reported to have been aged 10 and 14 when the meetings took place in 1975.
Cardinal Brady has said he will only resign over claims he helped cover up abuse if he is asked to do so by the Pope.
“There was no cover up, I believed those people. I brought what I heard to the bishop,” he said.
Cardinal Brady said he had been following his bishop’s orders and there were no guidelines for dealing with such investigations at that time.
“Now I know with hindsight that I should have done more.
“I thought at that time I was doing what I was required to do, and not just that, but most effectively. I acted with great urgency to get that evidence and produce it,” he said.
“I believed in doing so, I was following the most effective route to get this stopped. That is my concern and always was – the safety of children.”
He said his actions were part of a process that removed Smyth’s licence to act as a priest.
He said he did not believe this was a resigning matter.
Government report
In an interview with Irish broadcaster RTE last December, the cardinal said he would resign if he found that a child had been abused as a result of any managerial failure on his part.
“I would remember that child sex abuse is a very serious crime and very grave and if I found myself in a situation where I was aware that my failure to act had allowed or meant that other children were abused, well then, I think I would resign,” he said.
At that time, the cardinal apologised on behalf of the Church after an Irish government report revealed abuse over decades, a systematic cover-up by the Church and a lack of action by Irish police.
He said: “No-one is above the law in this country.
“Every Catholic should comply fully with their obligations to the civil law and co-operate with the Gardai (Irish police) in the reporting and investigation of any crime.”
Father Brendan Smyth was a notorious child sex offender who was believed to have abused at least 20 children over a 40 year period in the north and south of Ireland.
He was eventually convicted and jailed for more than 90 offences, many of them committed after the Brady meetings.
Campaigners
However campaigners believe the cleric could have abused hundreds of children as he was moved around parishes, diocese and countries by the church.
They have accused Cardinal Brady of reckless endangerment.
A campaigner for victims of clerical child abuse in Ireland, Colm O’Gorman, also said Cardinal Brady should resign.
“He believed that this out of control paedophile [Smyth] had abused children and he did nothing to report this crime to the police either then, or it would appear, at any point over the next 20 years during which Smyth continued to rape and abuse in parishes across the world with near impunity,” Mr O’Gorman said.
“Instead he took part in a cover-up of Smyth’s crimes and swore his child victims to secrecy,” he said.
“At 36 years of age he (Cardinal Brady) was no fresh-faced seminarian, fresh out of college, he was a professor, a teacher and a canon lawyer.”
The revelations come as the Catholic Church worldwide grapples with accusations that it covered up abuse by priests.
In recent months paedophile scandals have rocked the church in Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany.