A newly public 1997 Vatican letter documents that the Vatican
intervened in local church affairs to prevent mandatory reporting of
abuse cases to civil authorities.
The document surfaced as part of an Irish public television
documentary that aired Jan. 17.
In responding to guidelines developed in
1996 by Ireland’s bishops, the letter’s author stated that “the
situation of ‘mandatory reporting’ gives rise to serious reservations of
both a moral and a canonical nature.”
The letter is signed by the
Vatican’s representative in Ireland Archbishop Luciano Storero and
orders the Irish bishops to see that the procedures established by the
Code of Canon Law are “meticulously followed.”
This letter in effect
directs the Irish bishops not to report clergy sexual abuse to civil
authorities, but to dispose of sexual abuse cases in secret proceedings
inside the Catholic Church.
“The Vatican has always claimed that the church’s response to
the abuse crisis was not dictated from Rome,” said VOTF president Dan
Bartley.
“In the case of Ireland, this letter proves otherwise. In how
many other local cases did the Vatican intervene to put secrecy before
the safety of children.”
VOTF believes this letter prevented the appropriate action
the Irish bishops wanted to take in response to the scandal within their
church. VOTF calls on the Vatican to disclose fully all other instances
of Vatican interference in local church affairs around the world.
In a New York Times story today, Vatican spokesman
Rev. Federico Lombardi said this letter is “not new” and that, “They’ve
known about it in Ireland for some time.”
Colm Gorman, a victim of abuse
in Ireland, contradicted Lombardi, saying the “letter was not known
until its disclosure on Monday (Jan. 17) by RTE.”
VOTF maintains that the Church’s credibility will remain
severely damaged unless the Vatican admits to what has been done in the
past.
The clergy sexual abuse scandal arose and was abetted not just by
many thousands of individual priests, religious and others working for
the Church who committed heinous crimes, but also by a Church hierarchy
that has sought to protect its public image by enforcing a de facto
policy of secrecy under the guise of adhering to canonical procedures.
In the RTE documentary, “Unspeakable Crimes,” reporter Mike
Peelo said the letter “reveals how not only did the Vatican secretly
block the bishop's efforts to improve child protection and bring abuser
priests to justice, but were every bit as inept in their own handling of
abuse.”
RTE also interviewed VOTF Ireland member and abuse survivor
Bryan Maguire and other survivors.
As recently as this past November, VOTF communicated with
Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, subsequent to the cardinal’s statement that new
guidelines for handling of clergy sexual abuse cases were being
developed by his congregation. In its letter to the cardinal, VOTF
called for:
- Timely lay involvement in developing these guidelines;
- Independent oversight of abuse cases; and
- Mandatory reporting of accused clergy in non-totalitarian states.
To date, VOTF has received no reply from Cardinal Levada.
VOTF maintains that the Church cannot begin to recover from this scandal
until every member of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church is
held accountable for his role in the mismanagement of abusers.
Voice of the Faithful
Voice of the Faithful is a lay organization formed in 2002 in
response to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.
Started in
the basement of a church in Wellesley, Mass., Voice of the Faithful has
expanded worldwide to comprise more than 150 Parish Voice affiliates and
30,000 members.
The entire organization is committed to helping the
Catholic Church. More information is at http://www.votf.org.
SIC: VOTF/USA