AUSTRALIA
news.com.au
AUGUST 22, 2014
THE Vatican has refused to hand over the files of Australian priests accused of sex crimes to the child abuse royal commission.
Claiming the internal documents were the property of the Holy See, the Vatican argued the commission’s request was “neither possible nor appropriate”.
Reasons included ongoing church investigations, and that internal working documents were the sovereign property of the Holy See.
Cardinal George Pell, now working in Rome, was asked if he sought an assurance from the Vatican that any document the royal commission needed would be provided.
“That is correct,” Cardinal Pell told the commission via video-link today.
“I suppose in retrospect there would be some discussion over what ‘any document’ meant.” Cardinal Pell said specific requests about cases would be more likely to succeed than what he described as an “ambit claim” for large numbers of documents.
A letter from the royal commission to the Vatican said it needed access to documents if it was to fulfil its terms of references. “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,” the letter said.
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