Vatican asked Irish bishops not to report clerical abuse to the police

I think it was, has been, a majorly ridiculous position for the Church leaders to take. Protecting criminals to protect power is always a stupid thing to do. The Church's leaders should have jumped on this from the start and cooperated with civil authorities anyplace it was happening. That would have been the "Christian" thing to do. Hiding behind a Roman collar is tantamount to hiding behind any badge of authority and committing a crime. How this will play out is anyone's guess, but it hasn't done the Church an iota of good to handle it as it has been handled. Period.

What does the article," Bishops were told in '97 not to report abuse," mean to all the defenders of the hierarchy? The vaticans' organized protection of pedophiles that abused God's children are still in complete control of the Catholic church. Does that make churchgoers feel comfortable? I can't hear you/////

Gee, what else can these criminals do to Irish Youth that they haven't already done? And for some reason, The Irish People still think if they give their time, blood, tears & tithe to a church that believes they're less than human, they'll somehow hopscotch into heaven. Burn these Vatican-sponsored pedos at the stake I say...

While i can see what was going on in Rome at the time,I still feel the irish Archbishop and bishops should have stood up and done the right thing .There is an old irish saying and that is , Its always the right time to do the right thing. I have one question to your readers? Any one konw if any of the familys of victoms have ever got compensation for what happened to there children???????

jacersagain, I think both of us are saying basically the same thing and are not in disagreement on the fundamental issues.

jacersagain, re your posts of 4:57 & 5:03 p.m. today, I was able to follow all the instructions except the last - there was no "Would You Believe" to click, & I was not otherwise able to watch the program. Nonetheless, I fail to see why the letter, the program & this story does not bring a more evident (pacifist says it is there but I have not seen it) hue & cry for a mandatory reporting law applicable to clergy. I would make following the letter's directions not to report, which the bishops did, a criminal offense.

In 2003, when the abuse cases were breaking in Boston and Long Island, I attended the first VOTF meeting held in Wyndanch, Long Island. When I arrived, and saw the turn out, I was heartened to see these were all the people who had been the backbones of their respective parishes and were there to "save" their church, not tear it down. Later that same week the newly elected Bishop on Long Island, who had previously worked directly with Cardinal Law in Boston was speaking on Telacare, the diocesan station, about VOTF and he went on to say, It's not what they (VOTF) are saying that concerns me, It's what there’re not saying; as if to cast VOTF in some dark light and smear them before they became too powerful. The victim's were not a major consideration then, and as the broadcast says time and time again. They were collateral damage to a church protecting itself and saving face. To parents worldwide this truth was a heartbreaking revelation.

@ carmanach - whoooh-hooo you can bet your last dollar and shirt that Benedict and many other popes and bishops yet to come after this infringement on their Christianity will be repenting for their arrogant ignorance of how to deal with life hurts to its flock of lambs. We Catholics and Christians will make sure to teach the ignorant ones how to drop their arrogance. Meantime, we thank them for being there for us with their true priesthood and prayers, which God always listens to and rewards.

The original letter that featured in the program has now been posted on various internet sites such as that of the New York Times. Read it and se if you are as shocked as I was. This reveals just what obstacles Rome was prepared to put in the way of bishops who tried to deal effectively with abusive priests. Until the Pope repents of these actions on behalf of the Holy See then his apologies ring hollow and his call on the Catholics of Ireland to repent will not be taken seriously. Bryan Maguire

Having watched the programme for myself, I still have the same difficulty that I have had for some time with particular regard to Josef Ratzinger, now Benedict II. That is, if as is indicated by the descriptions of the correspondence Cardinal Ratzinger was a part of the problem, how can he now, as Pope Benedict be part of the solution. Accepting as I do that he did move against Maciel Delgado when he felt he could, he still obfuscated in other cases where priests found to be guilty of abuse were reported. The particular case of Laurence Murphy and his abusing deaf children was and is particularly disturbing to me. Maciel, Murphy all died as priests within the bounds of the Church. As is the case with Cardinal Brady in Ireland, the notion of a "wounded healer" is a non-starter as far as I am concerned.

Pacifist – in reply to you, I’d say over the last 20 years or so, on this serious subject: Probably millions of reporters of every ilk has wanted to interview Vatican Hierarchical figures on its dealing with child abuse issues. (That will give an idea of percentages – I doubt many would want to enquire as to why there has been no declared miracle of Lourdes since 1950 or such other ‘mundane’ subjects.) ..... In contrast, I have to ask: What emerged from interviews and meetings that real child abuse victims have had exclusively with Pope Benedict, or our own Archbishop Diarmuid Martin? Not a whisper so far as I can see... probably a newspaper ‘expose’, book or TV documentary sometime by some of them in the future. Or, more probably, silence - unless some reporter comes up with an exposure of confidentiality by one of them.

@pacifist.. I completely agree with your previous remarks about the proposed sainthood of Pope John Paul. It sickens the heart and the soul to thinks that these men could compartmentalize their evil judgments and decisions and then be so arrogant to think one who was so involved worthy of Sainthood. This church can only truly begin to heal when all those tainted by their lack of action to protect innocent children are removed from ministry, Vatican included.

jacersagain, You are right in that the Vatican gets lots of requests for interviews, but what percentage would have a subject for interview as serious as this? But the Vatican - the Roman Catholic Church in reality - hid behind the walls of St. Peter's. What cowardice and hypocrisy!

(...more) The TV show’s reporter, Mick Peelo, picked up on Benedict’s “unspeakable crimes” words and used them to present his own personal assessment of the emergence of the “strictly confidential” letter which the article above refers to – examining the role of the Vatican, of some American and other countries’ hierarchies but particularly that of Irish Hierarchy in what has happened over the last 15 to 20 yrs or so. In fact, in the program, the Irish Bishops are the ones who emerged as shining lights for the Vatican and other countries’ hierarchies to follow. They urged that abusers be handed over to civil authorities but the “strictly confidential” letter reprimanded the bishops basically saying: “You are bishops first, not policemen” (i.e. men not to be concerned with civil crime affairs but mto be concerned with priestly affairs) and to preserve the priesthood of any man accused of such crimes. I urge people to watch the program on RTE Player (essentially Irish Bishops Vs Vatican Officials) before you contribute on the article. (Go to rte(dot)ie, scroll down a little, look for RTE Player, click on it, on the Calendar on the right click 17 (that’s the date of transmission of the show), look for ‘Would You Believe’, click on that and it will run the full TV program. Allow for the ads at the start!) Then make up your minds.

I’m afraid this article by Cathy above is being used to debate issues irrelevant to its topic by several recent contributors, including Ipmulligan, bunkerisland, monaghanjack and Tomassotucson. What this article refers to is the exposure of a “strictly confidential” letter from a high-ranking Vatican official to Irish Bishops. It is discussed in a weekly Irish TV program called “Would You Believe” and this particular edition was subtitled “Unspeakable Crimes”. It was Pope Benedict who uttered those words when he said” "I think of the immense suffering caused by the abuse of children, especially within the church and by her ministers... Above all, I express my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes, along with my hope that the power of Christ's grace, his sacrifice of reconciliation, will bring deep healing and peace to their lives”. The speech was broadcast live on television. (More...)