Vatican Refuses to Cooperate with Australian Child Abuse Commission, Calls It ‘unreasonable’

By Sounak Mukhopadhyay
International Business Times
August 22, 2014

http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/563586/20140822/vatican-refuse-cooperate-australian-child-abuse-commission.htm#.U_iKzvl_uSp

The Vatican refused to submit criminal documents to the child abuse royal commission. The files in question are those of Australian priests accused of child sex crimes. According to the Vatican, it was "neither possible nor appropriate" for an Aussie churchman to be involved in such alleged activities.

The Vatican cited reasons like church investigations to back its claim that Australian priests could never have been involved in sex crimes. It also argued that the internal working files exclusively belonged to the Holy See. According to Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican may be more interested in providing specific case files rather than handing over every file related to such allegations. He said that the Vatican did provide documents of around 5,000 pages after requests for specific files had been made.

The royal commission earlier sent a letter to the Vatican, asking for necessary documents related to child sex related cases. "It is essential that the royal commission understand the nature and extent of the communications between those congregations and the Holy See in relation to child sexual abuse complaints about Australian clerics," it said. Pell said that the Vatican would not hand over "internal working documents of another sovereign state." He said that it was "unreasonable" for the royal commission to ask for documents related to child sex related charges.

Pell went on to compare the Vatican with a "trucking company" to defend its decision of apparent non-cooperation with the royal commission. "The Catholic Church is no more legally responsible for priests who abuse children than a trucking company which employs a driver who molests women," Pell said. The comparison was strongly criticised by victims' families. Pell's comment was branded as "a ludicrous comparison."

Pell further said that Australia already had almost every document, barring exceptions he was not aware of, that the Vatican had. Rome called it a "substantial burden" to provide necessary files to the royal commission that involved Australian priests accused of child abuse. It also said that the commission's demand was "inconsistent with international practice."

Pell, on the other hand, accepted that the church was morally obligated to victims. However, the Cardinal apparently shies away when it comes to take the responsibility on a more legal manner.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@IBTimes.com.au