Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 367

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The Visitation to the Dioceses was carried out in the four Metropolitan

Sees during the first few months of 2011. The four Visitators, accompanied

by qualified and authorized persons and in coordination with the Arch-

bishops of the Sees concerned, met individuals from the various categories

listed in the Communiqué of 12 November 2010, along with others who

requested a hearing, including representatives of the National Board for

Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church. Special priority was given to

the meetings with victims of abuse, who were assured of the particular close-

ness of the Holy Father. Some of the Archdioceses held very moving peni-

tential liturgies in the Cathedrals, attended by clergy and members of the

faithful, with the participation of victims of abuse in each case. These four

Visitations included meetings with the suffraganeous Bishops and yielded

sufficient information to provide an adequate picture of the situation of

the Church in Ireland, such as to obviate the need to extend the Visitation

to the suffraganeous Sees.

The Visitation to the Seminaries examined the situation of four Insti-

tutes: the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, Saint Malachy's College in Bel-

fast, and two Institutes in the Archdiocese of Dublin - the National Semin-

ary, Saint Patrick's College, Maynooth, and the Milltown Institute of the

Society of Jesus. All Hallows College in Dublin informed the Visitator that

it no longer offered a programme of priestly formation and consequently it

was not included in the Visitation. Before visiting each of the Institutes, the

Visitator was able to study documentation on the Colleges concerned. Upon

arrival, with the assistance of several Bishops and priests, all previously

approved by the Congregation for Catholic Education, the Visitator exam-

ined, to the extent possible, all aspects of priestly formation, along the lines

indicated in the Press Communiqué of 31 May 2010. The Visitator and his

assistants held individual meetings with formators and seminarians, as well

as others holding positions of authority in the seminaries, including those

responsible for the protection of minors. Priests ordained within the last three

years were also invited to a personal conversation if they so wished. It should

be pointed out that the Milltown Institute, which is more an academic centre

than a seminary, was examined only with regard to the theological formation

offered to future priests.