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Irish Prime Minister slams Vatican over Irish sex abuse stance

Enda Kenny - "The rape and torture of children were downplayed'

CATHY HAYES,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 12:59 PM

Updated Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 1:02 PM

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Irish leader Enda Kenny

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Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny today slammed the Vatican in an extraordinary attack over their reaction to the Cloyne diocese report on child sex abuse.

He told the Dail (Irish Parliament) the reaction by the Vatican to the Cloyne Report into clerical sex abuse was unacceptable.

He said the 400-page report "excavates the dysfunction, the disconnection, the elitism that dominates the Vatican today."

The report found that a cover-up of abuses up to 19 priests by Bishop John Magee was continued despite guidelines put in place. Several Irish experts have claimed that Magee was following Vatican orders

The Irish leader said "The rape and torture of children were downplayed ... managed to uphold instead, the primacy of the institution, its power, standing and reputation.”

He called their reaction to the sexual abuse of children "calculated withering position" and added that it was "the polar opposite of the radicalism, the humility and the compassion upon which the Roman Church was founded." When the Vatican received the evidence they sent it to be analyzed by a canon lawyer.

Kenny said the power of the Church in Ireland has left many of Ireland's brightest leaders unable or unwilling to address the horrendous Ryan and Murphy reports.

He also said that the clericalism must be devastating to "good priests".

The Taoiseach said "Thankfully for them, and for us, this is not Rome. Nor is it industrial school or Magdalene Ireland, where the swish of a soutane-smothered conscience and humanity and the swing of a thurible ruled the Irish Catholic world.

“This is the Republic of Ireland 2011.

“A republic of laws, of rights and responsibilities, of proper civic order, where the delinquency and arrogance of a particular version of a particular kind of morality will no longer be tolerated or ignored.”

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Kenny voice his agreement with the Dublin Archbishops, Diarmuid Martin, saying that all similar reports on the Church should be published as soon as possible.

He reiterated the measures which will be instated in the wake of the publication of the Cloyne Report, including that it will now be an offence to withhold information about crimes against children.

“As the Holy See prepares its considered response to the Cloyne Report, as Taoiseach I am making it absolutely clear that when it comes to the protection of the children of this State, the standards of conduct which the church deems appropriate to itself cannot and will not be applied to the workings of democracy and civil society in this republic,” Kenny said.

The Irish Parliament's motion today stated that they deplore "the Vatican’s intervention, which contributed to the undermining of the child protection frameworks and guidelines of the Irish State and the Irish bishops”.

Earlier on Wednesday, a Vatican spokesman stated that Irish bishops had never been encouraged to cover up clerical abuse or evade child protection laws. These are the first comments to come from Rome in the wake of the Cloyne Report publication, which focused heavily on the actions of Bishop John Magee.

The spokesperson for the Vatican, Father Federico Lombardi dismissed criticism of the Holy See. Lombardi went on to call the severity of the criticism against the Holy See curious, according to the Irish Examiner.

In 1997 a letter from the Papal Nuncio, Rome's ambassador to Ireland, wrote a letter reacting to the Irish bishops' plans to improve child protection. The Cloyne Report called the Vatican's response "entirely unhelpful".

Lombardi continued "There is no reason to interpret that letter as being intended to cover up cases of abuse. Moreover, there is absolutely nothing in the letter that is an invitation to disregard the laws of the country.”

He said that in the Vatican's view they had done nothing worse that the Irish State as rigorous child protection rules were not in place at the time.

"The severity of certain criticisms of the Vatican are curious, as if the Holy See was guilty of not having given merit under canon law to norms which a State did not consider necessary to give value under civil law.”

He continued “In attributing grave responsibility to the Holy See for what happened in Ireland, such accusations seem to go far beyond what is suggested in the report itself (which uses a more balanced tone in the attribution of responsibility) and demonstrate little awareness of what the Holy See has actually done over the years to help effectively address the problem.”

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Collette2 | Jul 24, 2011, 05:29 AM EDT

What's your gist DannyH; and we don't? or better still we do if we can get away with it, and that's not only for sex-abuse. There's no comparison between the Jehovah's or any other religious institution with ours Princes and principalities bend the knee to Rome.

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JudyJones | Jul 22, 2011, 03:43 PM EDT

Victims thank Taoiseach Enda Kenny Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, President of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 1-312-399-4747, snapblaine dot gmail.com ) No high ranking government official anywhere in the world has denounced atrocities committed by church officials as Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has. We commend him for speaking out about how the Roman Catholic hierarchy has put “… the power and reputation of the Church ahead of child rape victims.” These are words of comfort to the thousands of survivors of abuse. Mr. Kenny is the first government leader to demand accountability not only from his nation’s bishops but from the Vatican. We applaud his courage and we urge other world leaders to follow his example. Now more than ever it is essential that government officials stand firm in ensuring the safety of children so no further abuse occurs. Those who were raped, sodomized and had their innocence shattered need justice. We hope that those who enabled, covered up for and transferred predators will be held accountable and face criminal charges for the atrocities that have occurred. (SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 23 years and have more than 10,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers.

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maceinri | Jul 21, 2011, 03:41 PM EDT

@Trealach I don't think soapbox insults are any way to persuade others of the veracity of your arguments. I think Kenny's speech represents a profound change of heart as he and others in this country realise they have been lied to by some church authorities for far too long. That doesn't mean the State doesn't need to put its own house in order. As for cillowen, I'm not quite sure what is intended by 'Shatter's sentiments and those of bros worldwide', followed by a reference to 'pound of flesh', but it sure sounds liks antisemitism to me. If it looks like a duck, and talks like a duck, and walks like a duck, maybe it is a duck.

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cillowen | Jul 21, 2011, 02:47 PM EDT

Notice Shatter sitting next to him while Enda spouted Shatter's sentiments and those of bros worldwide. Pound of flesh - slow and steady - until they Mur Dock us all.

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greensod | Jul 21, 2011, 02:41 PM EDT

Congratulations, Mr Kenny,long overdue.Now that the words have been uttered,the action plan needs to be implemented.You have the traction and the mandate to have these criminals brought to justice.They are hiding in rat holes all over the world and some right under your nose.This should be job one for the Garda.

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Trealach | Jul 21, 2011, 02:28 PM EDT

@ Maceinri - The TRUTH is often harsh and a bitter pill to swallow. You need look no further than government and this tabloid, to see who the bigots and morons are. We do not have a chance of addressing any wrongs or preventing any further wrongs from happening until the government puts up its hands and admits its involvement in child abuse and paedophilia. This address and attack by Kenny is nothing more than a smoke screen for his party's involvement in that abuse. It's a means of trying to deflect attention away from them - nothing more, and the church is an easy target - it always has been and always will be for the likes of those bigots and morons. Nothing is going to change until Kenny and his cohorts are imprisoned, and that's not going to happen either. Full accountability is for everyone else, but not for them. Perhaps the best thing the church could do is to excommunicate him, and deny him the right to a Christian burial - he and others might change their attitude then, and accept their responsibility in this heinous carnage.

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maceinri | Jul 21, 2011, 11:56 AM EDT

That's a bit harsh Trealach. For those who believe (I am not among their number), even the thief who confessed on the very hill of Calvary was forgiven. In other words, even if it has taken Kenny some time to arrive at his present position, what matters is that he has. I don't vote for Fine Gael because of their right-wing economic policies but I think it would be churlish and narrow-minded not to recognise the enormity of the step taken by the Taoiseach yesterday. I agree that full accountability must include accountability by politicians and officialdom. At least we have a chance now to address the wrongs done and improve things for the future. I don't know who the 'bigots and morons' you refer to are.

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Trealach | Jul 21, 2011, 11:08 AM EDT

Kenny is one of the biggest, lying, twisted, bigoted and incompetent leaders this country has had in its history. It's interesting how a mealy-mouthed moron can hide behind a script written by a Civil Servant, when his own Party was an active party to the abuse of children during their several pathetic attempts of government since the foundation of the State. How convenient it is for him, to point the finger at others, while his Party oversaw countless thousands of children being committed to places such as the Magdalene Laundry. Even during their pathetic reign during the latter part of the 70's, when Kenny was elected, he and his Party's silence on child abuse was deafening, and they knew it was going on but did nothing about it. Certainly, members of the Magesterium and the Vatican have a LOT to account for, but so too has Kenny and Fine Gael. They betrayed the children of Ireland, and pointing the finger without accepting equal responsibility is nothing short of hypocrisy - something one can only expect from a snivelling moronic Taoiseach. The perpetrators of such heinous acts of paedophilia and those who covered-up for them, including Kenny and his ilk, will answer to God - of that, there can be no doubt - but IF Kenny, or anyone else thinks they can destroy the Church Christ established, then they know nothing about Christ - He said, "I will be with you 'til the end of time, and the gates of Hell shall NOT prevail. Only bigots and morons would believe otherwise.

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Searlit | Jul 21, 2011, 10:35 AM EDT

Thank-you Taoiseach Kenny! I had my doubts about you, at first, because of your stand on the corporate tax rate. However, you have stood up for something much more important than money. You are a true leader and worhty of the title.

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Bocktherobber | Jul 21, 2011, 10:28 AM EDT

The most significant thing that happened after Enda Kenny's speech was this : nothing happened. The sky didn't fall in. The people didn't rise up. Enda Kenny has named the unnameable and in doing so has drawn its teeth. Just as it took the antagonists in the North to make peace there, it probably took a man from the very heart of Irish Catholicism to challenge its leaders effectively, as Enda Kenny has done. A historic day.

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McNamara31 | Jul 21, 2011, 09:57 AM EDT

maceinri Well said and so true.

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maceinri | Jul 21, 2011, 08:11 AM EDT

Niall, we are the same generation and, I think, the same age. I could not begin to explain to my children (both of whom are themselves now part of the Diaspora) how all-pervasive and near-absolute the power of the church was a generation ago, the damage it did to people psychologically and to society as a whole; I don't think today's children could grasp it any more than one could grasp life during the Famine. All that, and then the specific and criminal perpetration and/or condoning of unpardonable acts, mainly done to the poorest and most vulnerable. I did not think I would ever hear a Fine Gael Taoiseach speak in the terms used by Enda Kenny yesterday. I think it was appropriate and note that all sides offered similar views. As for the Church itself, it has been plain for some time now that various turf wars are being played out, at the expense of others, and that Archbishop Martin, an honest and committed if possibly somewhat peremptory man, has not in general been supported by his peers. Best Piaras

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Niall O'Dowd | Jul 21, 2011, 07:46 AM EDT

maceinri I have to agree with you -- as someone who grew up in Ireland where the belt of the crosier was enough to scare politicians to death this is a powerful and emotional moment. The church has simply lost its way, will not listen to Diarmuid Martin and continues to lose ground

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maceinri | Jul 21, 2011, 06:46 AM EDT

This is the most important speech on State-Church relations since the foundation of this State; a defining moment. Those of us who grew up in an Ireland characterised by excessive deference to, and fear of, the clergy, can finally begin to put it all behind us. Ordinary decent Catholics, and ordinary decent Catholic clergy, can get on with their lives without being tainted by arrogant and evil people who abused children, or did nothing about it and allowed such abuses to continue, and in so doing corrupted the very institution they purported to serve. The State has a case to answer as well - it gave religious orders control over the lives of poor children who in some cases such as the Magdalen laundries were used for years as brutalised, unpaid and uneducated slaves. The church, and other faith bodies, are entirely entitled to express their views about any matter of public or private interest. But that is all they are entitled to. Yesterday's speech means that we can now hope for a end to the wholesale control of aspects of public policy and public services, like health, education and other social services, by people who do not regard themselves as accountable under the laws of this State. It has been claimed, quite speciously, that such services were provided by religious bodies at a time when the State was not prepared to, but let's not fool ourselves. That is the way the Church wanted things - it was about power and control. There were and are many fine and dedicated teachers, medical people and others who also happen to work for religious bodies and that cannot be denied. But in the end of the day the law of the land must prevail, not the law of Rome.

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Towngate | Jul 21, 2011, 06:22 AM EDT

WEll said, CaptainCon: It's high time the Satanic Soutanned Sadistic Sadists and ALL that ilk, got a firm kick in the cult! The hand of Fate is firmly on the shoulder of the bold Enda Kenny has it in his very grasp now to rid Ireland of this church and its monstrous ministers and stop Ireland from being the jeer of the Globe!

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