Vatican officials told Irish bishops in 1997 that they had serious
reservations about their policy of mandatory reporting of priests
suspected of child abuse to the police or civil authorities, a newly
disclosed document reveals.
It appears to contradict Vatican claims that church
leaders in Rome never sought to control the actions of local bishops in
abuse cases, and that the Catholic Church did not impede criminal
investigations of accused child abusers.
Abuse victims in Ireland and the US quickly proclaimed
the document to be a ''smoking gun'' that would serve as important
evidence in lawsuits against the Vatican.
''The Vatican is at the root of this problem,'' said Colm
O'Gorman, an outspoken victim of abuse in Ireland who is now director
of Amnesty International there.
''Any suggestion that they have not
deliberately and willfully been instructing bishops not to report
priests to appropriate civil authorities is now proven to be
ridiculous.''
The letter, signed by Archbishop Luciano Storero, then
the Vatican's chief representative in Ireland, told Irish bishops that
the Vatican had reservations about mandatory reporting for both ''moral
and canonical'' reasons.
A lawyer for the Vatican said the letter ''has been
deeply misunderstood'', and that its primary purpose was to ensure that
punishments were not overturned on technical grounds.
''In stark contrast to news reports, the letter nowhere
instructed Irish bishops to disregard civil law reporting
requirements,'' he said.
SIC: SMH/AUS