THE extraordinary war of words between the Government and Vatican intensified last night as ministers insisted Rome had given comfort to those trying to cover up the Cloyne child-abuse scandal.
After Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin demanded the Taoiseach be more specific in his assertion that the Vatican has deliberately frustrated abuse investigations, Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton insisted that the Church hierarchy in Rome was still failing to confront its part in the culture of abuse.
"The reports in Cloyne indicated that there was a continuing failing right up until recently, that is what the Taoiseach was referring to," Mr Bruton told RTÉ.
"The Cloyne report clearly indicates that views emanating from the Vatican may have been a factor in what happened, and I think that also is a clear finding and the Vatican has to respond to that."
Archbishop Martin said Enda Kenny needs to clarify what he meant when he told the Dáil in July that the Vatican was trying to undermine investigations into clerical child sex-abuse allegations three years ago, otherwise it would look as if "agendas" were in play.
"It’s a very specific allegation. It is important that the Taoiseach, or whoever was speaking on his behalf, can say what was meant by this, so that we can move forward, not having suspicions that there are other agendas we don’t know about," he said.
The archbishop’s demands came as the Vatican issued a 25-page response to the Government, rejecting Mr Kenny’s criticisms of the Holy See in the wake of the publication of the Cloyne report.
In a landmark speech to the Dáil in late July, Mr Kenny said: "For the first time in Ireland, a report into child sexual abuse exposes an attempt by the Holy See to frustrate an inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic as little as three years ago, not three decades ago.
"And in doing so, the Cloyne report excavates the dysfunction, elitism... the narcissism that dominates the culture of the Vatican to this day."
In its response, the Vatican rejected accusations that it hampered or interfered with the inquiry into Cloyne cover-ups.
"In particular, the accusation that the Holy See attempted ‘to frustrate an inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic as little as three years ago, not three decades ago’, which Mr Kenny made no attempt to substantiate, is unfounded," the Vatican said.
The response said the allegations were based on an incorrect reading of a 1997 Vatican letter expressing "serious reservations" about the Irish bishops’ 1996 policy requiring bishops to report abusers to gardaí.
Cloyne was the fourth major report into clerical child sex abuse and cover-ups in Ireland to be released since 2005.
The Government has said it needs time to study the Vatican statement before responding to it in detail.
"The reports in Cloyne indicated that there was a continuing failing right up until recently, that is what the Taoiseach was referring to," Mr Bruton told RTÉ.
"The Cloyne report clearly indicates that views emanating from the Vatican may have been a factor in what happened, and I think that also is a clear finding and the Vatican has to respond to that."
Archbishop Martin said Enda Kenny needs to clarify what he meant when he told the Dáil in July that the Vatican was trying to undermine investigations into clerical child sex-abuse allegations three years ago, otherwise it would look as if "agendas" were in play.
"It’s a very specific allegation. It is important that the Taoiseach, or whoever was speaking on his behalf, can say what was meant by this, so that we can move forward, not having suspicions that there are other agendas we don’t know about," he said.
The archbishop’s demands came as the Vatican issued a 25-page response to the Government, rejecting Mr Kenny’s criticisms of the Holy See in the wake of the publication of the Cloyne report.
In a landmark speech to the Dáil in late July, Mr Kenny said: "For the first time in Ireland, a report into child sexual abuse exposes an attempt by the Holy See to frustrate an inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic as little as three years ago, not three decades ago.
"And in doing so, the Cloyne report excavates the dysfunction, elitism... the narcissism that dominates the culture of the Vatican to this day."
In its response, the Vatican rejected accusations that it hampered or interfered with the inquiry into Cloyne cover-ups.
"In particular, the accusation that the Holy See attempted ‘to frustrate an inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic as little as three years ago, not three decades ago’, which Mr Kenny made no attempt to substantiate, is unfounded," the Vatican said.
The response said the allegations were based on an incorrect reading of a 1997 Vatican letter expressing "serious reservations" about the Irish bishops’ 1996 policy requiring bishops to report abusers to gardaí.
Cloyne was the fourth major report into clerical child sex abuse and cover-ups in Ireland to be released since 2005.
The Government has said it needs time to study the Vatican statement before responding to it in detail.