By Paul Cullen and Deaglan De Breadun
Irish Times
July 15, 2011
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2011/0715/1224300763159.html
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| Papal nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza leaves the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin after a meeting with Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore. Photograph: Julien Behal/PA Wire |
THE CATHOLIC Church and the State are on a collision course over Government plans to force priests to disclose information on child sexual abuse obtained in the confessional.
The measure, announced in response to the findings of a report on the handling of child abuse complaints in the diocese of Cloyne, is likely to encounter significant resistance within the church.
Under the plans put forward by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter, priests could be jailed for up to five years for failing to disclose information on serious offences against a child even if this was obtained in Confession.
The fallout from the Cloyne report continued yesterday, with the Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore sharply criticising the Vatican for undermining the Irish bishops’ child protection rules.
“The law of the land should not be stopped by a crozier or by a collar,” Mr Kenny said, while Fine Gael chairman Charlie Flanagan and the Socialist Party called for the expulsion of the Vatican’s representative in Ireland, the papal nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza.
Asked for his reaction to the criticisms, the Vatican’s senior spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi declined to comment, saying only: “I have nothing to say until such time as there is a formal Vatican response.”
Church spokesmen said yesterday they wanted to see the text of Mr Shatter’s Bill before making a definitive comment. However, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Armagh Dr Gerard Clifford said the bond of secrecy attached to Confession had to be respected.
A priest would “recommend” anyone admitting to a serious crime in Confession to go to the civil authorities.
A spokesman for the Catholic bishops said the “seal of Confession places an onerous responsibility on the confessor/priest, and a breach of it would be a serious offence to the rights of penitents”. He pointed approvingly to remarks made yesterday by Fr PJ Madden of the Association of Catholic Priests, who said the seal of the Confession was above the law of the land.
Fr Madden said the seal was “above and beyond all else” and could not be broken even if a penitent confessed to a crime.
Dr Clifford said former Bishop of Cloyne John Magee, whose whereabouts are unknown, should make himself available to answer questions about the report.
Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald is due to publish guidance on child protection rules today, along with a HSE plan to implement the rules consistently across the State.
A decision on whether to hold further inquiries into the handling of abuse complaints in other dioceses will be made in the autumn.
Mr Shatter is awaiting the results of two audits of church compliance with child protection procedures, one being carried out by the HSE, the other by the church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children.
The bishops’ spokesman said they would co-operate fully with the civil authorities. The Cloyne report is to be considered by the bishops at their next meeting in September.
The Dail is set to hold a 2?-hour discussion of it on Wednesday.
Mr Kenny hinted that the Government could close the Irish Embassy to the Holy See in the wake of the report. Asked if the Government might close the Embassy given that it already has an Embassy in Italy, Mr Kenny said the Minister for Foreign Affairs had “adjustments” to make to Irish diplomatic representation.
“I’m quite sure that he will take into account the straitened circumstances of the country and make his decision known to the Government in due course about what adjustments he wishes to make.”
Mr Gilmore told the papal nuncio he wanted a response from the Vatican as to why it had told priests and bishops they could undermine rules laid down by the Irish bishops.
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