McAleese says she is embarrassed' by Church's handling of abuse inquiries

Former president Mary McAleese told an Australian audience last week she was ''embarrassed about the Catholic clergy's handling of child abuse inquiries.

Mary McAleese In Australia last week, where she addressed an audience on the institutional failures of the Catholic Church in not dealing with its sex abuse scandals. Picture: EPA

Former president Mary McAleese told an Australian audience last week she was “embarrassed” about the Catholic clergy’s handling of child abuse inquiries.

McAleese described the time when “a senior cleric, whom I will not name” visited Áras an Uachtaráin “looking for advice” as pressure for investigating sex abuse in the Church intensified. Her advice to the Church was to “open up the diocesan archives, conduct your own audits, tell the people of God ...