VATICAN'S ROLE: THE REACTION of the Vatican to a
framework document on handling child sexual abuse allegations in 1997
was entirely unhelpful to any bishop who wanted to implement the agreed
procedures, the Cloyne report states.
Irish bishops sought
recognition from Rome for its new rules on handling abuse, as outlined
in the document, but it was not forthcoming.
The Vatican’s opposition to the document gave comfort to dissenters within the Church, the report states.
The
Vatican told the Irish bishops the document was “not an official
document of the Episcopal Conference but merely a study document”.
It
contained “procedures and dispositions which appear contrary to
canonical discipline and which, if applied, could invalidate the acts of
the same Bishops who are attempting to put a stop to these problems.
“If
such procedures were to be followed by the Bishops and there were cases
of eventual hierarchical recourse lodged at the Holy See, the results
could be highly embarrassing and detrimental to those same Diocesan
authorities,” the congregation told the bishops.
The report says
the effect of the Vatican’s stance was to strengthen the position of
those who dissented from the official Irish church policy.
“This
response . . . can only be described as unsupportive, especially in
relation to report to the civil authorities,” the report says.
The
commission says four cases where priests were assessed for risk have
been reported to Rome; one of these priests has since died and the
outcome of the other three cases is not known.
Vatican spokesman
Fr Federico Lombardi issued an emphatic “no comment” when asked about
yesterday’s Cloyne report.
The spokesman did not rule out making a
comment on the report at a later date by which time the Holy See would
have had a chance to assess the report’s full impact.
In 1997, the
then Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Luciano Storero, wrote a letter to the
Irish Bishops’ Conference, in which he expressed the concerns of the
Congregation for the Clergy about the Irish Church’s 1996 “framework
document” on clerical sex abuse.
At one point in the letter, the
Nuncio observes: “In particular, the situation of ‘mandatory reporting’
gives rise to serious concerns of both a moral and canonical nature.”
Asked
about this letter earlier this year, Fr Lombardi replied: “It must be
pointed out that the letter in no way indicates that the law of the land
should not be adhered to. However, the letter also insists on the
importance of always respecting canon law in order to avoid situations
where guilty parties might find a cause for appeal and therefore obtain
the opposite result to that desired”.
In relation to the Vatican’s May 2001 instruction,
Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela , the Cloyne report quotes a
letter in which Msgr Denis O’Callaghan, the vicar-general in the
diocese, writes that “the subtext was the need for the procedures in
Canon Law which will respect the right of the accused priest”.