By Andrea Tornielli
Vatican Insider
August 9, 2011
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/world-news/detail/articolo/irlanda-ireland-pedofilia-pedophilia-6067/
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| The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin (centre) with Barroso and Poettering |
Last week the Cloyne Report was published in Ireland; the fourth Irish report on sexual abuse committed by clerics against minors, dedicated to the diocese that was led in recent years by Bishop John Magee, secretary to three Popes.
The controversy flared up way beyond the protests put forward in the report which shows that there were delays and underestimations on the part of the clerics’ representatives, even after the Vatican had promulgated new laws against paedophilia. Yesterday, during a debate before the lower chamber of the Irish Parliament, Dublin’s Prime Minister, Enda Kenny launched an unprecedented, full fledged attack on the Holy See, without being interrupted once by other MPs.
According to the Irish leader, the report has supposedly “highlighted an attempt by the Holy See to halt an inquiry in a sovereign and democratic State about three years ago, not thirty years ago”. He also claimed the report has “exposed the elitism, dysfunction, disconnection, and narcissism that dominate the Vatican. The rape and torture of children were downplayed to uphold the primacy of the institution, its power, standing and reputation.”
The Vatican Insider interviewed the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmund Martin who is at the forefront of the fight against paedophilia, on this.
Yesterday, the Irish Prime Minister launched a serious attack on the Vatican after the publication of the Cloyne Report. What was the reason for this attack?
“I believe the Prime Minister was referring above all to interactions – which I was unaware of – which took place with the Vatican while the Cloyne Report was being prepared and to a now “historical” speech made by the Congregation for the Clergy. The Prime Minister did not name the Pope directly or criticise the laws of the current Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. They have undoubtedly been a great support in encouraging the Church in Ireland and elsewhere, in an attempt to follow a clear cut and consistent course of action against paedophilia.”
The Cloyne Report has shown that in Ireland, there have been bishops who even after the guidelines put in place by the Holy See in 2001, have continued to underestimate the seriousness of the abuse problem, and have acted without giving timely or adequate answers. Why is this?
“There are still some small circles that are defying the rules in place for Irish bishops. Around the diocese of Cloyne there was a group that, following its own interpretation of “canon law”, actually chose not to apply the rules laid down by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger’s rules that is.”
In a television interview you said there is a group that is also showing defiance to Benedict XVI’s line of thought within the Vatican. To whom were you referring?
“I was referring to these circles, present in Ireland and perhaps in the Vatican, who are still not fully adhering to the rules in place, both the rules of the Irish Church and those of the Holy See. There needs to be a change in mentality and mentalities cannot be changed from one day to the next.”
With his determination and his attempt to set an example, the Pope is in fact trying to change the mentality, not just the rules. In your opinion, how does the Church view the action the Pope has taken?
“This morning, on the Irish radio, one of the most well-known victims, declared he was certain that the Pope wanted to permanently eradicate this evil from the Church. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister failed to mention the radical reforms made to Church procedures under the guidance of the Pope. There is no doubt that the Irish Church today is a far safer place for children than it was just a few years ago.”
What impact has the Cloyne report had on Irish Catholics and public opinion in Ireland?
“It raised a lot of anger and confusion at the fact that a diocese had declared its adherence to the rules of the Church when in actual fact it was not abiding by them at all.”
In your opinion is Rome fully aware of the seriousness of the report’s impact?
“Rome has proposed a course of action which I fully support and is the only course to follow. In this sense, Rome supports and encourages the course that I and the Irish episcopate are following. Perhaps Rome does not understand the climate that exists in Ireland and some comments made by Rome do not show enough sensitivity to popular feeling in Ireland. When one is dealing with the suffering of innocent children, heartfelt sentiment and Christian sensitivity should always transpire, even in diplomatic communication.”
“The crisis in the Irish Church is not just a crisis linked to sexual abuse of minors. These are symptoms of a far deeper crisis. This crisis goes far deeper. It is a crisis of faith, a crisis of transmission of faith and in many cases, it is also a lack of understanding of the very nature of the Church. Ireland is now a highly secularised state and many see the Church through a secularised lens, to the point that in a certain sense, one could speak of what I call “a climate of undeclared heresy” that permeates many dimensions of Catholics’ understanding of faith.”
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