Day of Prayer for Victims of Abuse

All are asked to keep victims in their thoughts and prayers on that day.  

Following his meeting with victims and survivors, Pope Francis used the following Penitential Rite in the Phoenix Park at the beginning of mass on 26th August 2018.

Penitential Rite Used by Pope Francis in the Phoenix Park

At the beginning of mass on 26th August 2018 following his meeting with victims and survivors 

• We ask forgiveness for the cases of abuse in Ireland, the abuse of power, the abuse of conscience and sexual abuse on the part of representatives of the Church. In a special way, we ask forgiveness for all those abuses that took place in different kinds of institutions directed by men and women religious and other members of the Church. We also ask forgiveness for cases in which many minors were exploited for their labour.
• We ask forgiveness for all those times when, as a Church, we did not offer to the survivors of any type of abuse compassion and the pursuit of justice and truth by concrete actions. We ask forgiveness.
• We ask forgiveness for some members of the hierarchy who took no responsibility for these painful situations and kept silent. We ask forgiveness.
• We ask forgiveness those children who were taken away from their mothers and for all those times when so many single mothers who tried to find their children that had been taken away, or those children who tried to find their mothers, were told that this was a mortal sin. It is not a mortal sin; it is the fourth commandment! We ask forgiveness.
• May the Lord preserve and increase this sense of shame and repentance, and grant us the strength to ensure that it never happens again and that justice is done. Amen.

Healing stone at Lough Derg to commemorate victims with Prayer

The stone from the Liturgy of Repentance and Healing celebrated at the 2012 Eucharistic Congress has a permanent home on the lakeshore here at Lough Derg. It continues to challenge us all to play our part to create a church and a society where children and others who are vulnerable can be safe.  Nearby stands Ken Thompson’s statue of Patrick the Pilgrim.  Patrick, in his youth, was trafficked into slavery. He found the way to healing and new strength and became a blessing to the society that had enslaved him.  May Patrick inspire us to continue together on the long pilgrimage of repentance and on the journey towards healing, with the grace of the One whose power at work in us can do more than we can ask or even imagine. Fr La Flynn, Prior.

"Lord, we are so sorry for what some of us did to your children: treated them so cruelly, especially, in their hour of need. We have left them with a lifelong suffering. This was not your plan for them or us. Please help us to help them. Guide us, Lord, Amen.”