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	Vatican Rejects Taoiseach's Criticisms By Siobhán Brett Sunday Business Post September 5, 2011 http://www.sbpost.ie/news/ireland/vatican-rejects-taoiseachs-criticisms-58463.html The Vatican has strongly rejected Taoiseach Enda Kenny's criticism of its response to instances of child sexual abuse by priests in the Diocese of Cloyne. In a lengthy statement issued from Rome yesterday, the Vatican formally rejected allegations that it interfered with any inquiry into cases of child sexual abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne in a response issued to criticism levelled by the Irish government. The response, a 26-page document, tackles criticism of the Holy See in the Cloyne Report and by Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore during his meeting with the Papal Nuncio immediately following the publication of the report. It also rejects specific elements of the speech made by Enda Kenny in the Dáil on the July 20. The Holy See concludes that the bulk of allegations made against it in the Cloyne Report centred around the letter sent from Archbishop Storero to Irish bishops in 1997 concerning the response to the Framework Document. The report says that, out of context, the content of the letter "could be open to misinterpretation, giving rise to understandable criticism" and it describes the assessment of the letter as "inaccurate". In July, Gilmore described the Vatican authorities' reference to the Framework Document as a "study document" as among "the most disturbing of the findings of the Cloyne Report". The Vatican responded to that charge by saying it was not founded by an objective reading of the Cloyne Report. Further, the statement from the Vatican rejected the claim that recognition from Rome sought by Irish bishops for the Framework Document was not forthcoming, stating that Irish bishops did not officially seek "recognitio" from the Holy See for the Framework Document under canon law in the first place, which was why it was not granted. The Vatican adds that even without "recognitio", the Framework Document could have been applied in individual dioceses. The Vatican also expressed "significant reservations" about elements of Enda Kenny's Dáil speech, describing certain statements as unsubstantiated and unfounded. The Vatican response takes particular exception to the Taoiseach's accusation that the Holy See "attempted to frustrate an inquiry as little as three years ago, not three decades ago", saying that the statement referred to nothing specific and that neither Cloyne nor any prior reports contain any information to support Kenny's accusation. The report offers explanatory sections on the nature of the Church, the responsibility of individual bishops, and civil and canon law. It also offers what it describes as a "more complete account of the Church's legislation on child sexual abuse than that described in the Cloyne report".
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