A SENIOR Vatican official who suggested that the recent child-abuse scandals were in some measure peculiar to Ireland drew a rebuke from the President of the Irish Republic, Mary McAleese, in her speech at the annual presentation of greetings from the Diplomatic Corps on Saturday.The Dean of the Corps, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, is also the Papal Nuncio to Ireland.
In the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, said: “Certainly there are some unbecoming situations, but they are very limited in number. Unfortunately we are talking about situations linked to the human conditions, and that’s what happened in Ireland.”
He said that the Irish scandals, “painful happenings”, were not representative of most RC priests.President McAleese said: “These are global problems, and to assume otherwise is to offer abusers the same dishonourable secret veil which gave them protection and immunity for far too long. I hope the world’s children will benefit from the greater scepticism and vigilance that our experience rightly demands in order to better protect our children.”
The Papal Nuncio declined to comment on the President’s remarks.
An extraordinary meeting of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference is due to take place in Dublin today, after news that the Pope has summoned the bishops to Rome to discuss the child-abuse scandal.
It is understood that the bishops will meet the Pope and senior Vatican officials over a two-day period in preparation for Pope Benedict XVI’s address, by way of Pastoral Letter, to the faithful of Ireland.
Four of the five bishops who served as auxiliaries in Dublin during the 30-year-period covered by the Irish government’s commission have now resigned (News 1 January).
The Bishop of Galway, Dr Martin Drennan, maintains that he did nothing wrong and was not criticised in the report.
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