The papal nuncio today said he was “very distressed” by the report into child sexual abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne.
Speaking
after a meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore in
Dublin this afternoon, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza said he would bring a
copy of the report to the attention of the Holy See immediately.
“I
am very distressed myself again by the failures in assuring the
protection of children within the church despite all the good work that
has been done,” he said.
“I wish to say, however, the total
commitment of the Holy See for its part to taking all the necessary
measures to assure protection.”
The report accuses the Vatican,
through its opposition to the Irish bishops’ procedures for handling
child sexual abuse, of giving comfort to dissenters within the church
who did not want to implement them.
In a secret letter to the bishops,
Rome describes the 1996 rules as “merely a study document” and not
official.
Mr Gilmore said the Vatican’s intervention in Irish
affairs was “absolutely unacceptable” and “inappropriate”.
He said he
had told Dr Leanza that an explanation and response was required as to
why the Vatican had told priests and bishops they could undermine Irish
rules.
“I want to know why this state, with which we have
diplomatic relations, issued a communication, the effect of which was
that very serious matter of the abuse of children in this country was
not reported to the authorities,” he said.
Mr Gilmore said the
Vatican had conveyed a message that somehow it was “all right to evade
responsibility” for reporting these matters to the Irish authorities.
“What
happened here should not have happened. What happened here was a
totally inappropriate, unjustified and unacceptable by the Vatican in
the reporting arrangements even within the context of the arrangements
of the church itself.”
The Minister said he felt the archbishop had taken on board his concerns.
Asked
if he felt Pope Benedict XVI should respond, Mr Gilmore said it was up
to the Vatican to decide who communicated with Ireland.
He said he had
not set a deadline for a response but that he would judge what
represented an appropriate period of time to respond to the formal
request from the Government.
Asked if he believed the Vatican’s
embassy in Ireland should be closed following its poor interaction with
the commissions investigating child abuse here, Mr Gilmore said it was
an entirely different matter.
“We want a response first,” he said.