Rome Told Bishops Not to Report Sexual Abuse

UPDATED: The Irish Times also has coverage on this story and it appears that the letter to be released will be quite damaging since it appears that it may implicate Benedict XVI himself. One can only hope so. Here's a brief highlight:
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In a January 1997 letter to each Irish bishop, marked “strictly confidential”, the Vatican said it would support the appeal of any priest defrocked by the Irish church in connection with child sex abuse. It did so in a number of cases, leading to a threat of resignation by one Irish archbishop.
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The Vatican opposed a recommendation in the Irish Bishops’ “Green Book” guidelines on child protection, published in January 1996, which said all allegations of clerical child sex abuse should be reported to the civil authorities.
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The foul stench from the Vatican continues to increase as more evidence of Rome's intervention to protect sexual predator priests becomes public. A program airing tonight on Irish television - aptly called "Unspeakable Crimes" - promises to showcase a letter from Rome blocking the removal of a priest who had molested children. Obviously, it will be most interesting to see whose signature is on the letter and who directed its sending. With the utterly ridiculous upcoming beatification of the less than saintly John Paul II, more evidence of the Vatican's deliberate intervention to protect predators could become most interesting. And given the current Pope's position in 1997, the filth of the cover ups might well attach to him as well. Once again, I cannot help but ask: How can a moral person remain a "practicing Catholic" and remain in the Catholic Church? Here are highlights from the Irish Examiner:
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A LETTER sent to Irish bishops in 1997 shows that the Vatican secretly blocked attempts to report paedophile priests to gardaí. In the letter, the bishops are urged not to report clerical abuse as a criminal offence.
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A documentary to be aired tonight reveals the contents of the letter and also claims that, on at least two occasions, the Vatican stepped in and stopped attempts by Irish bishops to defrock abuser priests. Last month, details of one of those occasions was made public when a High Court order finally allowed the full publication of a previously censored chapter in the Murphy Report on the Dublin Archdiocese. That revealed that when bishops made moves to dismiss paedophile priest Tony Walsh, the Vatican instead sought to send Walsh to serve 10 years in a monastery.
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In the programme the mother of that child, who didn’t wish to be named, points the finger directly at the Vatican for the abuse of her son. The programme also reveals how one Irish archbishop, who can’t be named for legal reasons, did threaten to resign because of a case in the 1990s.
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Abuse survivor and spokesperson for the Voice of the Faithful organisation Bryan Maguire said the 1997 letter sent to the Irish bishops changes the way he feels about the clerical abuse issue. He said: "It certainly puts a different complexion on the way in which the Irish bishops acted and points a finger right back to Rome.
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"At root what we’ve got is not just abusive priests and bishops that cover up, but an entire system that has enabled and facilitated those bishops and priests.

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Rather than railing against same sex marriage, moral Catholics ought to be calling for the criminal prosecution of much of the Church hierarchy and ceasing church attendance and contribution until those responsible for the horrors of the abuse scandal are removed from office - and that includes Benedict XVI.