CBC News
January 19, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/01/19/vatican-letter.html
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| Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi says a leaked letter about the reporting of sex abuse in the church has been misunderstood.Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi says a leaked letter about the reporting of sex abuse in the church has been misunderstood. (Andrew Medichini/Associated Press) |
The Vatican says its letter in 1997 warning Irish bishops about reporting sex abuse to police has been misunderstood.
Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said the Holy See wanted to ensure Irish bishops follow church law precisely so pedophile priests would not have technical grounds to escape church punishment.
"That letter has been given biased treatment by some media outlets, who have presented it as proof of an instruction from the Vatican to cover up cases of sexual abuse of minors," Lombardi said in a statement released Wednesday.
"It must be noted that the letter does not in any way suggest that national laws must not be followed." He declined a CBC interview request.
Lombardi was responding to a letter marked "strictly confidential" that was leaked to the Irish television network RTE by an Irish bishop. It suggests that the Vatican ordered Irish Catholic bishops to cover up cases of child sexual abuse.
Victims' advocates said the revelation should end all doubt that the Vatican was involved in a systematic, top-down effort to keep abuse cases under wraps.
Colm O'Gorman wrote a book chronicling widespread abuse in the Irish church. As an altar boy, he was repeatedly raped by a priest.
"This wasn't some sort of muddled or confused failure on the part of the individual bishops, but rather a concerted approach directed by the Vatican," O'Gorman said.
The letter directs Irish bishops to "meticulously" observe canon law, which dictates that abuse cases be dealt with internally instead of going to police.
It said a 1996 Irish church policy of mandatory reporting of abuse to police gave rise to "serious reservations of both a moral and canonical nature."
The document is a rare record that challenges the Vatican's claims that it was unaware of coverups and leaves it vulnerable to lawsuits from victims around the world, said O'Gorman.
"The rules and approaches that apply in Ireland will be the same applied in other jurisdictions. So it does open the church up for further lawsuits."
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