Pope Benedict is said to be reviewing his
planned trip to Ireland next year after the Irish government issued
harsh criticism of the Vatican over the latest church cover up scandal, according to the Irish Independent.
Prime
Minister Enda Kenny and Deputy Leader Eamon Gilmore have slammed the
Vatican for their policy of urging bishops not to accept the guidelines
laid down by the Irish hierarchy on reporting child abuse.
The
criticism came after the retired Bishop of Cloyne John Magee was
harshly criticised after 19 priests in his diocese suspected of
pedophilia were given kid gloves treatment, apparently at the behest of
the Vatican.
Enda Kenny stated it was
"disgraceful" that the Vatican ignored child protection safeguards
agreed by the Irish bishops while the Papal Nuncio was summoned to the
Foreign Ministry by Gilmore who demanded an explanation for Rome’s
"inappropriate" intervention” in Irish affairs.
Kenny’s
parliamentary party chairman Charles Flanagan called for the Papal
Nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, to be expelled, a move that had 72
percent public support according to a journal.ie poll.
The
Vatican had declared the Irish bishops' 1996 Groundwork Document, which
urged strict reporting to police and a major crackdown on pedophiles,
as "a mere study document."
They claimed it conflicted with canon law.
Benedict
was expected in Ireland in June for the Eucharistic Congress in Ireland
but the harsh reaction to the Cloyne report has put those plans on
hold.
There will be great interest in
government circles about how Pope Benedict handles the Cloyne report
when it is given to him.
Bishop Magee, now retired is in the US and has
been out of contact after the outraged media and public reaction to the
report.