“Wherever we go from here we have to go together”, says Archbishop
Diarmuid Martin of Dublin speaking to Vatican Radio, Saturday, following
the publication of the Holy See’s response to the Irish Government
regarding the Cloyne report.
“The climate of tension and polemics doesn’t help”, he adds, “but we
also have to go forward following the truth, making sure that what is
said is true. That we go forward with a policy of transparency and
honesty in this and that any attempts to go back into a cover up mode or
mentality will only damage not just the Church itself, but it will
damage children. One of the things we have to remember is that Jesus
identified children as a sign of the kingdom and we have to learn again
what that was saying to us and how becoming like children, safeguarding
and cherishing children is actually part of the way Christians live and
should live”.
Regarding the specifics of the Vatican response, the Archbishop
notes: “One of the things that struck me when I read the section about
the development of the policies of the Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith over the past ten years, is that over 20 times it stresses the
need for the Church to respect national laws on the reporting of the
abuse cases, and that’s a very, very strong affirmation of the position
of the Congregation and of the Catholic Church”.
Archbishop Martin notes that the distinct roles of Church and State
in safeguarding children is another essential element : “This brings us
back to a central point which is implicit in the Cloyne Reports phrase
“if fully implemented”: even the best norms in the world must be
accompanied by an on-going process of independent monitoring and
reviewing of day-to-day practice. Within the Catholic Church this is
being undertaken by the National Board for the Safeguarding of
Children. Its reviews are underway and will be published. The primary
responsibility for monitoring child safeguarding measures in any
dimension of Irish society belongs – I repeat – with the State”.
In a statement released Saturday the Primate of Ireland also stated:
“One of the key points of the Taoiseach’s [Prime Minister] intervention
was the assertion that “the Holy See attempted to frustrate an enquiry
in a sovereign democratic republic as little as three years ago not
three decades ago”.
"There is no evidence presented in the Murphy Report
to substantiate this, the Holy See could find no evidence and the
Department of An Taoiseach’s office said that the Taoiseach was not
referring to any specific event. This merits explanation”.