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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Disgraceful cover-up by Vatican continues on Irish child abuse---Irish prime minister has absolutely nothing to apologize for

Posted on Sunday, September 04, 2011 at 09:49 PM

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The Vatican response to the Irish government criticism of its actions on child abusing priests is simply pathetic.

The Irish government needs to stand firm and not be cowed by this Vatican response which is utterly deceitful.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny has absolutely nothing to apologize for.

The Irish Times headline on religious editor Patsy McGarry's piece on Monday sums it up best

"It takes 25 pages and 11,000 words to say - 'nothing to do with us'

The Vatican washed its hands of any real culpability.

Suffer little children then, nothing to do with us, move along there.

What the Vatican didn't do, as McGarry, a superb journalist. points out, is accept any responsibility for their own part in creating the worst scandal in Irish history involving the church.

The 1997 letter the Vatican sent covering this issue allowed bishops not to turn over evidence of abuser priests if they felt it transgressed canon law.

In other words canon law surpassed civil law even when crimes were committed.

Consider this also the man they sent to Ireland to sort out the mess when it was at its height was one Cardinal Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, (pictured), prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, the Vatican body overseeing this issue.

Who was Cardinal Hoyos?

The Irish Times reports that "In 2001 Cardinal Hoyos wrote a letter to French bishop Pierre Pican praising him for not passing information about an abuser priest to police. Bishop Pican received a suspended sentence for failing to report the priest who was sentenced to 18 years for the repeated sexual assault of boys over 20 years, and the rape of one of them.

Cardinal Hoyos wrote to Bishop Pican: “I am pleased to have a colleague in the episcopate who, in the eyes of history and of all other bishops in the world, preferred prison to denouncing his son and priest.”

This was the man in charge of the Irish mess at the Vatican.

Talk about a fox in charge of the hen house.

The Vatican states that Hoyos told the Irish bishops in 1998 that the church “should not in any way put an obstacle in the legitimate path of civil justice” when it came to priest abusers.

They do not revel that he also called for Vatican policy on the issue to be followed.

That policy was that mandatory reporting of priest abusers “gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and a canonical nature”.

The Vatican letter also warned that procedures in the Irish bishop's document on child abuse appeared “contrary to canonical discipline”. It also referred to it as “merely a study document”.

One Irish bishop stated he felt the mandate from Rome was “a mandate to conceal the crimes of a priest”.

McGarry also reports that at that 1997 meeting then Dublin Archbishop Desmond Connell "thumped a table in frustration as Cardinal Hoyos insisted it was Vatican policy to defend the rights of an accused priest above all."

Another leading clergyman considered that the Vatican orders “placed the [Irish] bishops in an invidious position”.

It meant any priest against whom they took action “had a right of appeal to Rome and was most likely to succeed."

indeed this subsequently happened when new Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin tried to replace two bishops he considered had turned a blind eye to abuse. They appealed to Rome and won their case.

The Vatican is trying to hoodwink public opinion and pretend they were sincere in their efforts to stamp out what they tried to portray as a uniquely Irish problem of child sex abuse.

It was not confined to Ireland as we know all to well here in America and the Vatican response to this day is disgraceful.

This letter to the Irish government just makes that all the clearer.

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JuneAnnette | Sep 19, 2011, 02:01 PM EDT

Article: How the Catholic Church united with local Nazis to run Croatia during World War II / The Case of Archbishop Stepinac / Published by the Embassy of the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia Washington, 1947 / When Hitler attacked the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on April 6, 1941, the Ustashi, including many Catholic priests who were among its members, directed active fighting in the rear of the regular Yugoslav army. This well-organized Fifth Column helped the German High Command in the conquest of Yugoslavia. After the defeat of the Yugoslav Army this combine, the Ustashi and fascist elements of the clergy, launched one of the most horrible massacres in recorded history. Of the two million Serbs who for centuries had lived peacefully among the Croats, hundreds of thousands were driven from their villages and towns and their property stolen. Hundreds of thousands of Serbs were tortured and slaughtered in and out of concentration camps, and the rest were "converted" by force to the Roman faith. Torture and death were also the lot of Croatians who refused to support the quisling cause, and of the Jews.The man under whose spiritual blessing and active support these monstrous crimes were committed was Aloysius Stepinac, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Zagreb. - Continued

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JuneAnnette | Sep 19, 2011, 01:59 PM EDT

EDMICCA, As I have already shown, HATE / HATRED is very much in view in Roman Catholicism. I cannot imagine a more graphic example of a HATE CRIME than the mass murder of innocent men, women and children in Croatia carried out by Roman Catholic clerics in the early forties of the last century. The anti-CHRISTIAN spirit at work in the CONVERT or DIE campaign pursued by Roman Catholic priests and bishops is yet more compelling evidence that Roman Catholicism is not Christ's Church.***GOD'S WORD as it is found in EXODUS 20:13: “Thou shalt not kill.- Continued

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edmicca | Sep 17, 2011, 01:08 AM EDT

Junie Moon's moon - will you marry me? It must take a lot of effort every day to find something to disagree with me about. As for me, I've said all I'm going to say. You hate Catholics, you hate priests, you hate the Church...I get your point. I have left the building.

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JuneAnnette | Sep 16, 2011, 09:54 AM EDT

EDMICCA, final thoughts with respect to your comment directed to Abused.N.I. of Sep 13, 2011, 01:23 AM EDT where you write: “Abused...remember, Jesus loves the priest who supposedly abused you as much as he loves you. Have you forgiven him seventy times seven times today? No? Bad boy.”****Let me reiterate that your vain and shameless attempt to shift the burden of responsibilty to Abused.N.I., while absolving the ABUSER of any guilt and responsibility toward him is not consistent with what Christ is teaching in the passage of Scripture to which you have alluded, namely Matt. 18:21-22 & Luke 17:3-4. As can be readily seen Christ does not let the ABUSER off that easy!***The text in Luke 17:3-4 reads: “Take heed to yourselves: if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.” ***Christ does not leave the ABUSER off the hook and / or give him a free pass as you would have us believe!***Take NOTE now to what AB Diarmuid Martin said recently . . . Source: America Magazine online / Article: Diarmuid Martin's Admission: No Remorse on Part of Most Abusers / Wednesday, April 06, 2011 / Author: James Martin, S.J.***EXCERPT: In a blunt lecture on Monday at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis., Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin made what to my mind isa stunning admission about the sexual abuse crisis in the church:With perhaps "two exceptions" he has "not encountered a real and unconditional admission of guilt and responsibility on the part of priest offenders" in his diocese. That is, the abusive priests in his diocese, with only a few exceptions, do not seem remorseful."

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JuneAnnette | Sep 15, 2011, 11:27 AM EDT

The “church” of ROME is irreformable . . In his day Martin Luther witnessed firsthand the gross immorality, the unchecked vice, the corrupt practices, most notably, the “selling of indulgences”, and the unbridled abuse of power amongst the clergy, and like some today who remain in the RCC, had noble thoughts of reforming it from within. He soon discovered however that Rome was irreformable and broke his ties with them. The rest is history. Martin Luther is widely known as “Father of the Reformation” (1483-1546)***His timely words: “The Roman Catholics have, with great adroitness, drawn three walls round themselves, with which they have hitherto protected themselves, so that no one could reform them, whereby all Christendom has fallen terribly. Firstly, if pressed by the temporal power, they have affirmed and maintained that the temporal power has no jurisdiction over them, but, on the contrary, that the spiritual power is above the temporal. Secondly, if it were proposed to admonish them with the Scriptures, they objected that none may interpret the Scriptures but the Pope.Thirdly, if they are threatened with a council, they pretend that no one may call a council but the Pope. Thus they have stolen our three rods and entrenched themselves behind these three walls, to act with all wickedness and malice, which we now witness.”***Take note of the last phrase which I now place in caps for emphasis: "TO ACT WITH ALL WICKEDNESS AND MALICE, WHICH WE NOW WITNESS."***How very applicable are the words of LUTHER in the present SCANDAL that continues to PLAGUE the R.C. "church"

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JuneAnnette | Sep 15, 2011, 10:59 AM EDT

prior post continued . . ***By CLAIMING a right to sovereignly rule in both the civil and ecclesiastical arenas / spheres / realms / matters they render themselves virtually untouchable. This has led to the most egriegous and flagrant abuses of power recorded in the annals of history, most notably that which they unapologetically call the “Holy Inquisition”. From the beginning of the Papacy to the present time, it is estimated by reputable and trustworthy historians that tens of millions of people have been tortured and killed by Papal persecutors for the crime of believing God’s word in the Bible, rather than the dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. ***God's Word . . Matt. 10:26 “Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.”

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JuneAnnette | Sep 15, 2011, 10:58 AM EDT

The global Roman Catholic Clergy Abuse SCANDAL brought to light in our day by the providence and mercy of God, in which the Roman Catholic hierarchy have consistently deferred to canon caw relegating it above civil law, reveals their arrogant contempt for the law of the land. The Bible gives them no license to make such an outrageous claim. Rather it was Christ Himself who said: “render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's” (Matt. 22:21) This command by our Lord is confirmed in Chapter 2 of the 1st epistle of Peter verse 13-14 where we read: “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for theLord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.” See also Rom. 13:1-3

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edmicca | Sep 15, 2011, 08:50 AM EDT

The Inquisition was not an event. It was the name of an ecclesiastical institution, or department, of the Church. It was also called the Holy Office, Office being another word for Department, and had employees. In a broad manner of speaking, the Inquisition was the Dept of Homeland Security of its day. The 12 apostles were given one mission - to pass along Christ's teachings intact. From the beginning men came along who taught false gospels which threatened the salvation of souls. The Church rose to meet these challenges - later the Holy Office was created, the most important Office of the Church, because heresy was the most serious threat to people, on par with any crime. Did some inquisitors go overboard? Yes. But you don't tear down a Church for the sins of a few just as you don't tear down democracy because some misuse it. The Inquisition kept detailed records of its activities, and while there were lamentable exceptions to how things were supposed to run, it serves no good purpose to wildly exaggerate what took place. This misrepresentation began with the Protestant reformers in England.

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JuneAnnette | Sep 14, 2011, 10:22 PM EDT

MORE on what the Roman Catholic “church” calls the “Holy Inquisition”***”From 1200 to 1500 the long series of Papal ordinances on the Inquisition, ever increasing in severity and cruelty, and their whole policy towards heresy, runs on without a break. It is a rigidly consistent system of legislation: every Pope confirms and improves upon the devices of his predecessor. All is directed to the one end, of completely uprooting every difference of belief... The Inquisition ... contradicted the simplest principles of Christian justice and love to our neighbor, and would have been rejected with universal horror in the ancient Church.”***Source: D J.H. Ignaz von Dollinger; The Pope and the Council (London, 1869)***edmicca, Jesus told Peter whom “your church” regards as your "first pope" to put up his sword, thereby rendering physical weapons in defense of the gospel completely forbidden. So, why don’t Catholics honor what Jesus told Peter, the "first pope"?***God's Word as it is found in Matt. 26:52: “Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish unto the sword.”

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edmicca | Sep 14, 2011, 06:35 PM EDT

What - no outrage over PUBLIC school teacher and abuser Tulsie Singh and the NYC Dept of Education's handling of him? Read again my email below. OH, how silly of me!! You guys only whine about priests and the Church, not teachers and Depts of Education.

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edmicca | Sep 14, 2011, 06:26 PM EDT

50 million? How bout 50 billion? What a dope.

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JuneAnnette | Sep 14, 2011, 03:23 PM EDT

edmicca, More on the "HOLY INQUISITION" . . I'll take the respected historians' figures, which I have quoted below over yours any day!***edmicca, MORE on the Roman Catholic "church"'s HOLY INQUISITION***William Shaw Kerr quotes from Lord Acton, who was among the most learned of the English Roman Catholics, regarding the basic nature of the Inquisition. Lord Acton’s conviction was that, The Inquisition is peculiarly the weapon and peculiarly the work of the Popes. It stands out from all those things in which they co-operated, followed or assented as the distinctive feature of papal Rome. It was set up, renewed and perfected by a long series of acts emanating from the supreme authority in the Church. No other institution, no doctrine, no ceremony is so distinctly the individual creation of the Papacy, except the dispensing power. It is the principal thing with which the Papacy is identified, and by which it must be judged. The principle of the Inquisition is the Pope’s sovereign power over life and death. Whosoever disobeys him should be tried and tortured and burnt. If that cannot be done, formalities may be dispensed with, and the culprit may be killed like an outlaw. That is to say, the principle of the Inquisition is murderous, and a man’s opinion of the Papacy is regulated and determined by his opinion of religious assassination."***GOD'S WORD as it is found in EXODUS 20:13: “Thou shalt not kill.”***God graphically describes the bloodthirsty nature of the Roman Catholic "church" as being: "And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (Rev. 17:6)

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Abused.N.I | Sep 14, 2011, 02:22 PM EDT

No,'edmicca'I'm not a member of SNAP,Or someone who makes a career out of being a victim.You are A very sad person I'll tell you what I am,And what I want. I am not a victim,but A survivor,and like all survivors all over the world,I want the church to take responsibility for their lack of action against the abusers within the church,I want the church to bring these abusers to account.I want the church to ultimately take a stand for the abused,not the abusers.There should be no hidding place for abusers within the church. The problem now with the church is the denial and the cover-up to protect the bishops and other priests(and nuns) who turned a blind eye to the sufferings of the Abused children and let us make no mistake about it, it was pure Abuse.

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edmicca | Sep 14, 2011, 01:22 PM EDT

Google "Tulsie Singh". Read the first thing that pops up, the NY Post article. See, Moonie, it ain't only the big bad Church that protects abusers. I expect you to park your carcass in front of the NYC Dept of Education and regale them with your rants.

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edmicca | Sep 14, 2011, 01:14 PM EDT

June's Moon.....there weren't even 50 million people living in Europe at the time let alone 50 million accused of heresy let alone 50 million convicted let alone 50 million executed - 2% of those convicted were executed. All the forests in Europe wouldn't have enough logs for the fires.

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