PONTIFF'S MESSAGE:IT WAS evident from Pope Benedict's pastoral letter to Irish Catholics that the pope was "deeply dismayed" by what he described as the "sinful and criminal acts and the way church authorities in Ireland dealt with them", Cardinal Seán Brady said in St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, on Saturday.
After 10.15am Mass Dr Brady delivered a summary of the pope’s pastoral letter. Cardinal Brady said he was “deeply grateful to the Holy Father for his profound kindness and concern”.
The cardinal added: “My dear people, as Pope Benedict said at his general audience this week on St Patrick’s Day, I ask you that you read this letter with an open heart and in a spirit of faith.”
Cardinal Brady said the pope had written to “express his closeness to us at this challenging time”. He added: “He speaks of the wounds inflicted on Christ’s body by child sexual abuse and of the sometimes painful remedies needed to bind and heal them. He talks of the need for . . . mutual support in the long-term process of restoration and renewal.”
Dr Brady then summarised the contents of the pastoral letter, including the “prayer for the church in Ireland” at its conclusion.
“Throughout the letter Pope Benedict talks about the need for healing, repentance and renewal. He expresses the depth of the pain that has been caused and acknowledges that some people find it difficult even to go inside the doors of a church after all that has occurred,” Cardinal Brady noted.
He added: “The Holy Father calls on us to face the future with courage and determination. No one imagines that the present painful situation will be resolved quickly. Yet with perseverance, prayer and working together in unity, the Holy Father says we can be confident that the Church in Ireland will experience a season of rebirth and spiritual renewal.”
Cardinal Brady “warmly” welcomed the media to the cathedral to cover the delivery of the letter and thanked them for “your dedication to duty, your commitment to truth and your work for justice”.
“I wish you well in your work of communicating this special message of national and international importance,” he said.
Before reading “in a spirit of faith” the pope’s self-composed prayer with the congregation, Cardinal Brady concluded: “Let us pray that the Holy Father’s pastoral letter will be the beginning of a great season of rebirth and hope in the Irish church, under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
Some 350 people applauded the cardinal. They were each handed a copy of the pastoral letter.