Abuse victim tells Vatican apologies not enough

VATICAN CITY: Irish anti-abuse campaigner Marie Collins told Catholic leaders at a Vatican summit on Tuesday that the Church had to be held accountable for destroying the lives of victims of paedophile priests.

"Apologising for the actions of the abusive priests is not enough," Collins told bishops and cardinals from around the world gathered at the Vatican's Gregorian University for an unprecedented conference on child abuse.

"There must be acknowledgement and accountability for the harm and destruction that has been done to the life of victims and their families by the often deliberate cover up and mishandling of cases by their superiors." Collins recounted in horrifying detail her abuse by a Dublin priest when she was 13. "Those fingers that would abuse my body the night before were the next morning holding and offering me the sacred host," said the 64-year-old.

Her denunciations were long ignored by the Catholic hierarchy and she has suffered from depression for most of her life as a result, but Collins has since become a leading voice in Ireland pushing for justice for victims.

"I feel the best of my life began 15 years ago when my abuser was brought to justice. During those years I have worked with my diocese and the wider Catholic Church in Ireland to improve their child protection policies.

"My life is no longer a wasteland. I feel it has meaning," she said.

Sheila Hollins, a British psychotherapist, told the meeting: "Not being believed or, even worse, being blamed for the abuse, adds hugely to the emotional and mental suffering caused by sexual abuse." "The failure of an abuser to admit his guilt, or of his superiors to take appropriate action, further compounds the damage," she said.

AFP