Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: A Decade of Crisis, 2002-2012
SNAP CONFERENCE JULY 29, 2012
A TRIBUTE TO MARY FRANCES THERESE RAFTERY Thomas P. Doyle, J.C.D., C.A.D.C.
Mary Raftery was born in Dublin in 1957. After secondary school she entered University College Dublin to study engineering but before too long she was distracted by her interest in journalism. This distraction became her career through which she pursued her compassionate commitment to helping those whom her Irish society and the Catholic Church had forgotten.
In 1998 Mary and her colleague Mick Peelo launched an investigation into the inhumane treatment of boys and girls in the Catholic run industrial schools and orphanages in Ireland. This culminated in a documentary series, States of Fear which aired on Irish television in April and May of 1999 and exposed to Ireland and the world the vicious culture of degradation, physical abuse and sexual violation that was rampant in these Church run institutions.
Mary Raftery – July 29, 2012 Page 1
The following year the Irish government instituted the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse. Nine years later, after hearing from close to 2ooo former residents of these hellish institutions, the commission published what is now known as the Ryan Report. The schools have all been closed down and the thousands of victims have begun to escape from their personal prisons of pain and hopelessness.
In 2002 Mary took on the widespread sexual abuse of children by the priests of the archdiocese of Dublin and the cover-up by the succession of archbishops from John Charles McQuaid to Desmond Connell. Mary did the unthinkable…..she took on the Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin, Desmond Connell and the entire ecclesiastical establishment….and she won!
Cardinal Secrets aired on Irish television on October 18, 2002. The revelations were electrifying to the solidly Catholic Irish people. In 2004 the Commission of Investigation Act initiated an in-depth and thorough scrutiny of the Archdiocese of Dublin. The final result, commonly known as the Murphy Report, was published on November 26, 2009. The same commission continued its work and published another report on its investigation into sexual abuse by clergy of the Diocese of Cloyne on July 13, 2011. This led to the recall of the Vatican Ambassador to Ireland, the closure of the Irish embassy to the Vatican and the historical address of Prime Minister Enda Kenny to the Irish parliament.
Mary Raftery – July 29, 2012 Page 2
Mary's courageous investigation into sexual and physical abuse in the Irish industrial schools and in the dioceses of Dublin and Cloyne changed the course of Irish history. The impact of her momentous work went far beyond the Irish borders. The unswerving commitment of this unassuming and gently powerful woman has given hope and strength to victims and their advocates in North American and Europe and has shown that truth can overcome even the most impenetrable barriers.
Mary’s journey with us ended on January 10 of this year. At the age of 54 she died of cancer in Dublin. Her crusade for justice and her compassion for the forgotten and the vulnerable has not ended however. Her spirit and the impact of her brave work have brought freedom from the dark shadows of fear for countless men and women in Ireland and throughout the world.
I invite all to pause, and in a moment of silence, to express our deep gratitude that Mary has walked among us.
Mary Raftery – July 29, 2012 Page 3