Irish Independent
July 20, 2011
http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/vatican-denies-abuse-coverup-claim-2826491.html
[with video]
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| John Magee was found to have mishandled paedophilia allegations while head of the Cloyne Diocese |
Irish bishops were never encouraged or advised to cover up clerical abuse or evade laws designed to protect children, a senior Vatican spokesman has claimed.
In the first comment from Rome amid fall-out over former bishop John Magee's "dangerous" mishandling of paedophilia allegations, Fr Federico Lombardi has dismissed criticism of the Holy See.
An inquiry into Magee's role at the head of the Cloyne Diocese until his retirement two years ago found he misled investigations and on one occasion wrote two different reports on a clerical abuse allegation - one for Rome and one for diocesan records.
Vatican spokesman Fr Lombardi claimed the severity of criticisms against the Holy See was "curious".
The controversy goes as high as the Vatican after the inquiry found a 1997 letter from the Papal Nuncio, Rome's ambassador to Ireland, reacting to Irish bishops' agreed plans to improve child protection policy. The Cloyne report described the response as "entirely unhelpful".
Fr Lombardi said: "There is no reason to interpret that letter as being intended to cover up cases of abuse. Moreover, there is absolutely nothing in the letter that is an invitation to disregard the laws of the country."
Fr Lombardi suggested the Church had done nothing worse than the Irish state as rigorous child protection rules and mandatory reporting were not in law at the time.
He added: "The severity of certain criticisms of the Vatican are curious, as if the Holy See was guilty of not having given merit under canon law to norms which a state did not consider necessary to give value under civil law."
He also said any objections from the powerful Rome-based Congregation for the Clergy to Irish bishops in the letter were understandable and legitimate.
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