The Vatican has rejected claims by Enda Kenny that it tried to
frustrate a clerical child abuse inquiry insisting the accusations were
unfounded.
In its formal response to the government in the wake of
the damning findings of abuse allegations in the diocese of Cloyne, the
Holy See said that it in no way hampered or interfered with the
inquiry.
"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.
In an unprecedented attack in the Dail parliament in July, Mr Kenny
accused the Vatican of downplaying the rape and torture of Irish
children by clerical sex abusers.
In a damning assessment of Rome's attitude to paedophile priests, Mr
Kenny claimed the Cloyne inquiry into clerical abuse cover-ups exposed a
dysfunctional, elite hierarchy determined to frustrate investigations.
The Taoiseach's attack, which opened a special Dail parliament
debate, followed the publication a week earlier of the fourth major
report in six years into the church's cover-ups of clerical abuse.
Cloyne Diocese in Co Cork was the latest part of the church to be
exposed with former bishop John Magee, a Vatican aide to three Popes,
singled out for misleading investigators and "dangerous" failures on
child protection. His resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict last
year.
The Vatican statement, more than 10,300 words long, was issued after
Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore demanded answers from the
Vatican on claims it allowed priests to ignore mandatory reporting
guidelines on suspected child abusers within the church.
It said the Holy See was ashamed for the "terrible sufferings which the victims of abuse and their families have had to endure."
"The Holy See is deeply concerned at the findings of the commission
of inquiry concerning grave failures in the ecclesiastical governance of
the Diocese of Cloyne and the mishandling of allegations of abuse," it
stated.
"It is particularly disturbing that these failures occurred
despite the undertaking given by the bishops and religious superiors to
apply the guidelines developed by the Church in Ireland to help ensure
child protection and despite the Holy See's own norms and procedures
relating to cases of sexual abuse."