Victims and government slam Papal denial of Cloyne Report

How proud I once was to be Irish but then we started to worship the Golden Calf. And... well... our man made happiness has not worked out so well has it? We are flat broke. And now we lost our souls and have taken to persecuting the church that Jesus himself founded over things that happened 30, 40 and 50 years ago when times were different. The Church is made up of men and will therefore always be sinful. But she has a proud proud history compared to any other institution though no other human institution has lasted anywhere near 2000 years--the ultimate sign that the gates of hell shall not prevail against Her. Put the secularists in charge as was done last century and tens of millions were killed. The Church should take it as a badge of honor that she is now being persecuted by the ugly, Godless elites in the Irish press.

How can one tell if anyone from the Vatican is lying?????????????? His lips are moving!!!!! Words from anyone in the Vatican, regarding the Priest Pedophilia Scandal are most often wanting in common sense, credibility and credulity. Fr. Lombardi said: “This report is a new step in the long and arduous walk to find the truth. This is a journey the Holy See does not feel apart from." The problem is that the Roman Catholic Church, particularly those in the Vatican, have ALWAYS known the truth, but they've be so arrogant that they've never thought members of the Laity, their dumb, little sheep, would ever be smart enough to figure it out! Now what is the Vatican going to do? Threaten to excommunicate us all? Hide and watch......... it just might happen!

There is no explicit instruction in the letter not to report allegations of sexual misconduct to the gardai. To read anything else into it is wide of the mark. I wish that the Vatican was more up front in terms of it's language to indicate what the local church should have done at the time. Although there was no legislation which mandated automatic reporting of suspicions of criminal wrong-doing, the Church should have done this as a natural response to the ongoing abuse crisis. The Vatican was ill-advised to use the explanation that it baulked at mandatory reporting due to the potential for priests found guilty to escape canonical penalties if the secular law conflicted with canon law.

I think that it is impractical to ever expect the Vatican to ever admit that they have been wrong, or that they have sinned. The RCC is the ultimate in vanity. It is time the leaders of this organization take off their fancy duds and put on sack cloth.

This response by the Holy See is so devious! Fr. Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, says, "There is nothing in the letter which suggests not respecting the laws of the land.” Yeah, the letter directs the bishops not to carry out their OWN rules, and it says nothing about not respecting Irish laws. The Irish bishops had developed a policy of mandatory reporting of sexual abuse allegations to civil police forces. Then the Vatican, in effect, ordered the bishops not to carry out such a policy. On January 18, 2011, Patrick Roberts wrote for IC "A smoking gun letter reveals Vatican directly ordered pedophiles be protected," about Archbishop Storero's letter of 1997 directing the Irish bishops NOT to follow their own mandatory reporting guidelines on charges of sexual abuse against clergy. After this letter came to light, the Vatican tried to wriggle out of its very uncomfortable position, and there was much debate about what the writer of the letter really meant. This letter by Storero to the Irish bishops is still available on the Internet. See also IC's "Vatican asked Irish bishops not to report clerical abuse to the police," Jan 17, 2011 and "New York Times criticizes Vatican over pedophiles," Jan. 20, 2011. There's little doubt in the mind of any impartial reader that the Vatican threatened retaliation if the Irish bishops followed their own mandatory reporting policy. And the Vatican pointed out no specific conflict with canon law in the bishop's policy, so the bishops had no way to revise it! They were left without a policy, which is no excuse, of course, for not cooperating with law enforcement investigations, but the Vatican's interference must have been demoralizing, frustrating, and as we see now, infuriating to all concerned.

--Finally a government standing up to the Vatican. --Finally there is hope for victims and for kids. Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director, USA, 636-433-2511 snapjudy@gmail.com "Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests"

The nuncio's letter, while not counseling the breaking of any law, makes it clear that the Vatican did not consider the Irish Bishops Conference has the authority in Canon Law to impose their will in this matter within Ireland until given the nod from the Vatican (it was just a study...). It was the questioning of that authority over their own priests and bishops that led to the lax implementation and the ongoing cover-up in Cloyne and which, as Diarmuid Martin implies, is likely continuing in other diocese just waiting to be exposed. It is the ongoing desire of the Vatican to maintain their "authority" and the remnants of their power and influence, which is still disturbingly potent in many parts of society and the world, that is behind this. The church does good work, but that good work could easily continue under local church control. The Vatican and the Papacy has never looked so clearly to be what it is, a remnant of once potent political tool wielded to control the religious desires that arise naturally in populations. If anyone would like to read an entertaining version of how this goes, I would recommend Frank Hertbert' original "Dune" trilogy.

When members of the RC Church recognize that the Church's primary and sole concern is the power and wealth of the Church they will better understand the Papal response.

I understand the anger but having read the infamous letter and what the Irish are saying about it (I am an American), I have to say that the politicians have blown the contents out of proportion. The letter is really straightforward and does indeed say what Fr. Lombardi says it does. To twist it for maximum political gain is also an exploitation of the victims and doesn't perpetuate justice by making it a lie. But the Church made its bed with this and now must live through the consequences.