Pope to Axe Irish Bishops Accused of Sex Abuse against Minors

By Giacomo Galeazzi
Vatican Insider
March 21, 2012

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/world-news/detail/articolo/irlanda-ireland-vaticano-vaticano-13673/

Sean Brady

The enquiry of Vatican representatives on the abuses perpetrated by the clergy has come to an end. The verdict: "Inadequate and unable to contain the number of cases of paedophilia"

The Vatican is clamping down on Irish bishops. Rather than a real investigation, the enquiry carried out by the Vatican was more an explanation of the reason why Benedict XVI is about to cut ecclesiastical hierarchies down to zero. "Controls were omitted, bishops and religious superiors were inadequate and incapable of monitoring and containing the spread of extremely serious cases of paedophilia in the clergy. The culprits went unpunished and the victims were treated with indifference." At the end of the apostolic visit to Ireland, the Holy See prepares a damning report on the Irish crisis concerning paedophile priests.

The island will be struck by a complete change of tactics. New cases will be reported immediately and the Pope will personally intervene to change "the current configuration of the dioceses in order to make diocesan structures better suited to deal with the current mission." It is time now for all the bishops that covered up the truth regarding paedophile priests (7 have already resigned) to take their leave and the cooperation between dioceses will see a smaller number of better quality priests. The Holy See "feels embarrassed and betrayed by the sinful and criminal acts at the root of this crisis."

This plague started in 2005 with government committees documenting thousands of child abuse cases at the hands of hundreds of priests starting from the thirties and stretching through the following decades (the last reported case dates back to more or less ten years ago). The documentation described the cover up and ill management of the situation by the bishops.

The Vatican inspectors confirmed these faults. The governance of the Irish Church will therefore undergo a deep change. The enquiry on paedophilia carried out by representatives of Benedict XVI means that the Vatican takes the blame for decades of scandals that involved priests, nuns and religious schools. When he was a cardinal and now as pope, Benedict XVI adopted "purification" as his line of action: from now on there will be thorough checks on dioceses and seminaries. After this earthquake, the Irish Church will have a different "configuration" (including ecclesiastical courts) to ensure "adequate and swift resolutions." Victims will be given the utmost priority and culprits will be handed over to the "civil Authorities and to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith."