Monday, July 18, 2011

Vatican has history of not cooperating

THE Vatican's silence on the findings of the Cloyne Report is nothing new.

Rome's disconnect with the anger of people on the ground in Ireland was seen before in the aftermath of the publication of the Murphy Commission's report on the Catholic archdioceses of Dublin in November 2009.

A leaked US embassy cable from February 2010 gives a behind-the-scenes insight into these failings, detailing how Vatican officials made procedural excuses for not cooperating with the commission.

This lack of cooperation drove a firm wedge between the government of the day and the Vatican.

According to the secret document -- obtained by the Irish Independent from the whistleblowing organisation WikiLeaks -- the Vatican's response to requests for information from the commission was viewed as being "pettily procedural and failing to confront the real issue of horrific abuse and cover-up".

While carrying out its investigation into the Dublin Archdiocese, the commission sent a letter requesting information from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The commission also asked the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, to answer questions.

But instead of responding with the information requested, Vatican officials raised procedural concerns, saying the contact had not been made through the use of "normal inter-state procedures".

According to the cable, the Holy See's Assessor Peter Wells told an American official that many in the Vatican saw the requests "as an affront to Vatican sovereignty".