By Gerard O'Connell
Vatican Insider
September 9, 2011
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/news/detail/articolo/irlanda-ireland-irelanda-pedofilia-pedophilia-7845/
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The two sides want to get beyond the polemics and tensions of recent weeks and rebuild harmonious relations.
They still differ, however, on some issues regarding the Vatican’s role in dealing with the sexual abuse of children by priests’ in the diocese of Cloyne and elsewhere in the country.
This became clear on the evening of September 8 when, after a Cabinet meeting in Dublin, the Irish Government issued a positive, one might even say conciliatory, statement in which, while re-affirming that “differences” still exist been them, it nonetheless welcomed the Holy See’s commitment to engage in “constructive dialogue and cooperation” in all matters concerning the welfare and protection of children in Ireland.
The Vatican gave the commitment five days earlier in its official Response to charges made against it in the Commission of Investigation’s Report into the abuse of children by priests in the diocese of Cloyne, and by Irish political leaders, including the Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Enda Kenny, in the subsequent parliamentary debate on July 20.
While accepting the Vatican’s pledge, the Government insisted that it expects nothing less than “the fullest cooperation from the Holy See, the Catholic Church and other relevant bodies”. It considers this essential “to ensure that Ireland is a society fully safe for children and minors” and that “all those with responsibility for the welfare and care of children are fully subject to Irish laws and requirements”.
The Irish Government also welcomed the Vatican statement that it is “sorry and ashamed for the sufferings which the victims of abuse and their families had suffered”.
The victims and their families “must remain foremost in our considerations”, the Government stated. The Vatican would certainly concur with this.
Just as the Holy See’s Response was measured, without a trace of polemic or irritation, so too the Irish Government’s statement took the high road of calm reason. But this did not prevent it from stating clearly that it still has “differences” with the Vatican. It mentioned two in particular but, significantly, presented them in a non-provocative manner.
First, it said it still holds the view that “the confidential letter” of the nuncio, Archbishop Storero, to the Irish Bishops, in 1997, “regardless of whether or not it was intended to do so, provided a pretext for some members of the clergy to evade full cooperation with the Irish civil authorities in regard to the abuse of minors.” This is “a matter of great concern to the Government”, it added.
Secondly, it made clear that it took exception to comments in the Vatican’s Response relating to the political debate in Ireland after the publication of the Cloyne Report and, in particular, to the statements made by the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and other political leaders.
Here too, however, it chose its words carefully as it claimed that the comments made by the Taoiseach and other political leaders “accurately reflect the public anger of the overwhelming majority of Irish people at the failure of the Catholic Church in Ireland and the Holy See to deal adequately with clerical child sexual abuse and those who committed such appalling acts.”
The Dublin statement concluded by expressing the hope that “in spite of outstanding differences, lessons have been learned from appalling past failures”.
The Government’s response is likely to be well received by the Vatican and interpreted as a clear desire to move beyond the recent polemics and open a new era of ‘constructive dialogue” and “the fullest cooperation” in all matters relating to the protection and welfare of children in the Republic of Ireland.
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