This image shows a copy of a newly revealed 1997 letter from the
Vatican, obtained by Irish broadcasters RTE and provided to The
Associated Press, warning Ireland's Catholic bishops not to report all
suspected child-abuse cases to police, a disclosure that victims groups
described as "the smoking gun" needed to show that the Vatican enforced a
worldwide culture of cover-up.
The letter documents the Vatican's
rejection of a 1996 Irish church initiative to begin helping police
identify pedophile priests following Ireland's first wave of publicly
disclosed lawsuits.
SIC: G&M/INT'L