The Taoiseach of Ireland (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny stands by the comments he made on the Vatican, in the Dail (Irish Parliament) following the publication of the Cloyne Report, into the coverup of clerical sexual abuse carried out by the Irish Catholic Church.
The Irish leader maintains that he was expressing the anger of the Irish people. Speaking at a two-day Fine Gael conference in Galway he said the failure of the Catholic Church to co-operate with the Murphy inquiry into cover-ups and clerical abuse amounts to interference.
He said “I made the point that this is a statutory commission of inquiry and as such nothing less than full co-operation is required, and anything less than full co-operation in my view is unwarranted interference.”
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Kenny explained that the Vatican had interfered with the government ordered Murphy report which had investigated the abuse and cover-ups in Dublin.
He continued “As a member of the Catholic Church, I want to see the Church of which I am a member as absolutely above reproach in the issue of this and other areas. And for that reason, my claim in the Dail still stands, because this was a statutory commission of inquiry.
"And in 2006, and 2007 and in 2009, there were requests for information and assistance to the Vatican by the Murphy Commission and in each of these cases that request was either refused or rejected."
On July 20 Enda Kenny accused the Holy See of being dysfunctional, disconnected and guilty of elitism. He said that their reaction and method of dealing with clerical sexual abuse had mean that the rape and torture of children had been down-played.
Last week the Vatican rejected his criticism and denied that they had impeded any inquiry into child abuse in the diocese of Cloyne in County Cork.
Kenny said that after his attack on the Vatican he received many phone calls including one from the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin calling for him to explain his actions.
Mr Kenny insisted he was standing by his unprecedented attack on the Catholic hierarchy on July 20 following calls by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin for him to explain himself. He also said that his comments were widely supported. He said his comments had expressed the anger frustration and concerns of the Irish people.
Enda Kenny's speech in the Dail on July 20:
7 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.canadianirish | Sep 07, 2011, 07:47 PM EDT
Bravo! Enda Kenny. Piercingly eloquent. Go get' em!
cillowen | Sep 07, 2011, 11:53 AM EDT
saying it like it is - now he needs to protect the children that are fleeing ireland looking for work. Shatter's input probably gave his speech delivery a smoother flow.
eileend | Sep 07, 2011, 10:04 AM EDT
I"ve been trying to get a copy of this speech since Enda Kenny made it, especially once the Vatican responded. I can only say that the comparison between the two reactions to the Cloyne report, one by a state government and one by a religious body founded by Jesus Christ himself, are sadly and tragically telling. It is the state which seeks to protect the children rather than Christ's church. What amuses me is that the Vatican responded as if Kenny stood up and shouted epithets at the Vatican's pristine head. He had just as much to say about Ireland's lack of response. His speech was considered, heartfelt, and cathartic for a nation that has been slowly uncovering this cancer for the last ten years. I wish I could say I was surprised by the Vatican's continued intransigence. Like I've said before, they seem to think they're Thomas a'Becket and Kenny is Henry II. Canon law is not paramount when the church breaks its own charter. I stand wholeheartedly behind the Taoiseach and hope he can see his reforms passed.
AndrewSB49 | Sep 07, 2011, 06:47 AM EDT
The Vatican says: Standards of conduct, appropriate to civil society or the workings of a democracy, cannot be purely and simply applied to the Church. Ireland says NO to that.
CaptainCon | Sep 06, 2011, 05:53 PM EDT
Enda Kenny is absolutely right when he describes the church as dysfunctional. He would have full support from me in any action against that organisation in Ireland which serves to get it through the skulls of the hierarchy that they are subject to Irish law. Canon law is not promulgated in the Oireachtas not debated there and the President does not sign canon law edicts. It is therefore alien to the justice system in particular and to the operation of a Republic in general and must be rejected whenever an attempt to substitute canon law for the law of the land is attempted by priests and church supporters. We all know by now the damage that can be caused by letting these people assume their golf-club rules have any legal force.
hollabackgurl | Sep 06, 2011, 04:56 PM EDT
Of course he's correct. There is no reforming that ancient, arrogant, tottering system and their shocking 25 page rebuttal proves it. It's like a kind of old worlde government ministery that can't connect with the modern era. They come blinking into the sunlight only to go to ground again at the first opportunity.
eiriamach | Sep 06, 2011, 04:39 PM EDT
With 92% of the voters clicking "Yes" to agree that Enda Kenny should stand by his July 20 attack on the Vatican, it's clear that he has the full support of his people. Some of his speech also expressed sorrow over the Irish government's past failures to legislate and to put agency protections in place for children. Probably most voters would agree with those comments also. The Vatican is not only the center of a religious organization, but also a sovereign state with a seat at the UN. Cooperation among states is the norm. I find the Taoiseach's comments about Vatican intransigence and obstruction defensible with facts that have been well publicized over several years. More recent refusals by the Vatican to cooperate in Irish investigations of predatory pedophiles are also well known. The Vatican has refused to open its 'secret archives,' its files on pedophiles, to the Irish state. There is no excuse for the Vatican to refuse, with no explanation as usual, the legitimate need for information by Irish state officials. Until Vatican officials open the files sent to the Curia by bishops in various countries, until they make full disclosure, every country should be keeping the pressure on.