The Irish Government has told the Vatican that it stands by every single detail of Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s controversial comments on the Holy See’s handling of the Cloyne Diocese child sex abuse scandal.
The Dublin government has formally responded to a statement from the Vatican which challenged elements of Kenny’s attack on the Catholic Church after the publication of the Cloyne Report.
A formal statement defending the PM’s comments has been backed up by a radio interview on Friday morning where Justice Minister Alan Shatter repeated Kenny’s claims that the Vatican attempted to frustrate Irish state enquiries into clerical sex abuse as recently as three years ago.
Like Kenny in his speech this summer, Shatter insisted on Friday morning that Holy See had ‘failed to provide information to the Murphy Commission and used a diplomatic ploy to support its position’.
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Read More:
The Irish Government’s response in full to Vatican Statement
Disgraceful cover-up by Vatican continues on Irish child abuse
Vatican hits back at Irish Prime Minister over cover-up allegation
Irish Prime Minister slams Vatican over Irish sex abuse stance
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Dr Martin’s comments and those contained in the Vatican statement were again refuted by Justice Minister Shatter when he spoke to Irish state radio station RTE on Friday morning.
“The Vatican failed to cooperate with the Murphy Commission,” claimed Minister Shatter.
“It failed to provide it with information readily available to it, failed to furnish information it had available to it with regard to the abuse of children in both the Dublin diocese and subsequently the Cloyne diocese.
“A request for information was made directly by the Murphy commission used the diplomatic ploy of refusing to deal with the matter when the request came through Department of Foreign Affairs which could not have been done because the Murphy Commission was independent of Government when investigating Cloyne.”
Shatter also told the radio station that, instead of supplying information, the Papal Nuncio ‘simply informed the Murphy Commission that it does not determine the handling of cases of child abuse in Ireland and is unable to assist in the matter’.
The Minister added: “That request was made to the Papal Nuncio as the ambassador to the Vatican based in Dublin. It was open to him to obtain from the Vatican any papers and information relevant to that inquiry.
“Information relating to priests who had allegedly abused children. This was an issue specifically raised in the Cloyne report.”
In an earlier statement, the Irish Government PM Kenny’s claims that the Holy See gave some members of the clergy in Ireland a pretext not to co-operate with inquiries into child abuse.
“Having considered carefully the Cloyne report and the response of the Holy See, the Government of Ireland remains of the view that the content of the confidential letter in 1997 from the then apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Luciano Storero, to the Irish bishops, regardless of whether or not it was intended to do so, provided a pretext for some members of the clergy to evade full co-operation with the Irish civil authorities in regard to the abuse of minors. This is a matter of great concern to the Irish Government,” said the statement.
The official response also stated that the Irish Government ‘acknowledged and welcomed the response of the Holy See to the Cloyne report in which it expressed shame and apologized for the terrible suffering which the victims of child abuse and their families had suffered’.
In response, a spokesman for the Irish Catholic Bishops said: “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.”
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.JuneAnnette | Sep 10, 2011, 12:22 PM EDT
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
JuneAnnette | Sep 10, 2011, 12:17 PM EDT
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
JuneAnnette | Sep 10, 2011, 12:14 PM EDT
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
AngelPrecious | Sep 10, 2011, 04:25 AM EDT
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!
seanomelbourne | Sep 09, 2011, 10:00 PM EDT
Who cares Angelprecious your willingness to protect paedaphiles is disgraceful.
tombegs | Sep 09, 2011, 07:11 PM EDT
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
eiriamach | Sep 09, 2011, 06:04 PM EDT
"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.
Atchison1 | Sep 09, 2011, 05:51 PM EDT
"“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.
AngelPrecious | Sep 09, 2011, 03:05 PM EDT
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?
Nicomax | Sep 09, 2011, 02:00 PM EDT
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.
IAPRINCESS | Sep 09, 2011, 12:00 PM EDT
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.
cillowen | Sep 09, 2011, 11:12 AM EDT
SHATTER AND BROS ARE GOING GAGA ON THIS ONE. STUPID VATICAN AIDS AND ABETS DEBACLE
cillowen | Sep 09, 2011, 11:11 AM EDT
shaTTER
thequietman123 | Sep 09, 2011, 10:48 AM EDT
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.
tomgallagher | Sep 09, 2011, 09:54 AM EDT
The Vatican should be ashamed.