Irish govt stands by comments on Vatican interference in abuse cases

seanomelbourne, I wonder if AngelPrecious defends the self-serving policies of the RCC which are not intended to protect children but to protect the church and to deter criticism of any kind by “the faithful” of the “church” and of her “spiritual rulers”, and intended to preserve the myth that their priests, bishops, cardinals & pope are above reproach and “holier than thou”!***Richard Sipe, former R.C. Priest, who has served as a consultant or expert witness in 173 cases of sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic clergy, usually on behalf of plaintiffs*** states: 37 Cardinals make a vow to the Pope to keep secret anything confided to them that if revealed would cause harm or dishonor to the church. ["I vow…not to reveal to anyone what is confided to me in secret, nor to divulge what may bring harm or dishonor to Holy Church"] That promise of secrecy forms a template within the clerical system to keep internal scandalous behavior under wraps, "for the good of the Church." Another moral teaching of Catholic theology is “Mental Reservation.” Father B. U. Gormless, S.J., defines mental reservation as “an unspoken intention to limit one’s compliance with a contract one is overtly entering into.” This moral doctrine has also been employed to “deny the whole truth” to those who have no right to it or to avoid “greater harm.”***Source / Article: AN OVERVIEW OF THE SYSTEM OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY AND ABUSE WITHIN THE CLERICAL CULTURE OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE USA

seanomelbourne, I wonder if AngelPrecious defends the self-serving policies of the RCC which are not intended to protect children but to protect the church and to deter criticism of any kind by “the faithful” of the “church” and of her “spiritual rulers”, and intended to preserve the myth that their priests, bishops, cardinals & pope are above reproach and “holier than thou”!***Richard Sipe, former R.C. Priest, who has served as a consultant or expert witness in 173 cases of sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic clergy, usually on behalf of plaintiffs*** states: 36. Secrecy is an unwritten but clear code within the clerical system. The clerical system often extends its prerogative of sacramental confessional confidentiality beyond law or reason to include any material it wishes to keep secret to preserve its image and at times for its convenience. A bishop responded, "I only lie when I have to" when chided by a priest for denying abuse that the bishop knew about. That modus operendi and justification for deception is common. This rationalization is often justified by the traditional moral doctrine of Mental Reservation. Literally this means that one does not have responsibility to tell the truth to one who does not have a right to it. The motivation to save the reputation of the church and the priesthood from scandal has been paramount since the Protestant Reformation. Caution about scandal is frequent in canon law (29 times). The dictum "not to give scandal" is impressed upon students in Catholic education as early as the first grade.***Source / Article: AN OVERVIEW OF THE SYSTEM OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY AND ABUSE WITHIN THE CLERICAL CULTURE OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE USA

seanomelbourne, I wonder if AngelPrecious defends the self-serving policies of the RCC which are not intended to protect children but to protect the church and to deter criticism of any kind by “the faithful” of the “church” and of her “spiritual rulers”, and intended to preserve the myth that their priests, bishops, cardinals & pope are above reproach and “holier than thou”!***Richard Sipe, former R.C. Priest, who has served as a consultant or expert witness in 173 cases of sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic clergy, usually on behalf of plaintiffs*** states: 60. Church authority and priests have been dedicated to preserve the image of the priesthood before the public and in the minds of the faithful since it is a fundamental source of power. That image is defined in the Catechism of the Council of Trent. "Bishops and priests being, as they are, God's interpreters and ambassadors, empowered in His name to teach mankind the divine law and the rules of conduct, and holding, as they do, His place on earth, it is evident that no nobler function than theirs can be imagined. Justly, therefore, are they called not only angels, but even gods, because of the fact that they exercise in our midst the power and prerogatives of the immortal God." ***Source / Article: AN OVERVIEW OF THE SYSTEM OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY AND ABUSE WITHIN THE CLERICAL CULTURE OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE USA

Oh for Pete's sakes. I have NEVER defended paedophiles! You show me ONE post in anywhewre here where I did so. I find it to be a heinous sin and a horrible blow to the abused faith life. I ABHOR what those priests did. What I find disgusting, too, however, is that so many here in IC lump the Church in with those few priests that committed this horrible deed. There are MANY good, holy priests within the Catholic Church and I am sick and tired of the attacks I read in here on the Truth found within this Church!

Who cares Angelprecious your willingness to protect paedaphiles is disgraceful.

Hi Angelprecious. Apparently you have never had to survive in a patriarchial oligarchy which is what the Vatican is. In that society, those at the top create "plausible deniability. by making their subordinates take the blame for obeying the orders they never "officially" issued. Their version: Blame the overzealous subordinates. Look, that seems to be what Mubarak and his cronies are doing now. Why not, not an inch of difference between them

"The focus now should be on" the reform agenda brought forth by the Austrian Priests' Initiative and the reform agendas of victims' support organizations like SNAP. The movement is spreading; the thing to do is to learn about it and support it.

"“In light of the Government’s statement, the Catholic Church restates its commitment to best practice in safeguarding children and to working with State authorities in achieving this. The focus should now be on the future.” It is hard to move on when we know that some who were responsible for hiding the truth about abusing priests face no consequences. Law is still in a cushy job in Rome. Magee hasn't been stripped of his priesthood. Finn (Kansas City diocese) is still bishop. Rome appoints bishops and only Rome can fire them. Evidently, pedophilia doesn't add up to as great a wrong as, ummm, asking that there be a discussion on married priests and female priests. Somehow, that is much worse than the sexual abuse of children. As a parent, I just don't get it.

Kenny still hasn't been able to provide ONE instance where Vatican officials were complicit in this cover-up. They now rely on a vague letter written in 1997, almost 15 years ago, to make their case against the Vatican. I wonder if God will continue to bless Ireland while your country continues to attack His Son's Church so vehemently.....hmmm?

Few peoples have more skill in stating the true essence of an issue than the Irish. Few official organizations have more skill in obfuscation than the Vatican.

Keep it coming. Truth is Truth, hard as the violators hate it. The media is keeping us informed and not sensationalizing it. It is what it is.

SHATTER AND BROS ARE GOING GAGA ON THIS ONE. STUPID VATICAN AIDS AND ABETS DEBACLE

shaTTER

i totally agree with tom gallagher, this has been going on to long in the states, having been an altar boy and a lector i've have seen to much ,usually our priest tells us to suck it up, but nothing changes. I love the Catholic Church, but it is time to get real.

The Vatican should be ashamed.