UPDATED: The Irish Times has an even more damning article on Parliament's finger pointing at the Vatican. My favorite part of the article which focuses in part on the Vatican's belief that it is above the law, is as follows:*
The revelations of the Cloyne report have brought the Government, Irish Catholics and the Vatican to an unprecedented juncture," the Taoiseach said. "It’s fair to say that after the Ryan and Murphy reports Ireland is, perhaps, unshockable when it comes to the abuse of children. But Cloyne has proved to be of a different order.
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"Because for the first time in Ireland, a report into child sexual-abuse exposes an attempt by the Holy See, to frustrate an inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic . . . as little as three years ago, not three decades ago. And in doing so, the Cloyne Report excavates the dysfunction, disconnection, elitism . . . the narcissism . . . that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day."
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Things continue to go from bad to worse for the Roman Catholic Church where the Irish Parliament has laid blame for the cover up of sexual crimes against children and youths directly at the feet of the Vatican. Church attendance has plummeted and with this new development, it may plunge further. It's beyond obvious that the Church hierarchy cannot be trusted and one again has to wonder why anyone who hasn't had a lobotomy listens to anything issuing from the Vatican and bishoprics around the world. The Church hierarchy has engaged in nothing less than a world wide criminal conspiracy. It's a truth that rank and file Catholics do not want to admit, but continuing to finance the Church - even its good aspects - sends the message to Rome that nothing need change. Here are highlights from the New York Times on this new development in Ireland:
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Ireland’s lawmakers on Wednesday accused the Vatican of encouraging Roman Catholic bishops not to tell the police about priests who were suspected of being pedophiles and of flouting Irish law. The rare denunciation of the Holy See’s influence in this predominantly Catholic country came just a week after the government issued a report accusing the Vatican of sabotaging Irish bishops’ 1996 decision to begin reporting suspected cases of child abuse to the police.
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The report gave details of a confidential letter sent in 1997 by the Vatican’s nuncio, or ambassador, in Ireland to Irish bishops, warning them that their child-protection policies violated canon law, which states that priests accused of abuse should be able to appeal their cases to the Vatican. “This is not Rome. This is the Republic of Ireland 2011, a republic of laws,” Prime Minister Enda Kenny told lawmakers on Wednesday. He said the church’s leaders had repeatedly sought to defend their institutions at the expense of children. It was the first time that Ireland’s Parliament had criticized the Vatican, rather than local church leaders, over the 17 years of pedophile-priest scandals in Ireland.
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The sad reality is that Pope Benedict XVI and most of the bishops and cardinals belong behind bars. The Catholic laity needs to face this fact and vote with their feet. Here in the USA, the Episcopal Church and ELCA are two options that ought to be pursued by Catholics who do not want to be accessories to sexual abuse of children and youths.
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Ireland’s lawmakers on Wednesday accused the Vatican of encouraging Roman Catholic bishops not to tell the police about priests who were suspected of being pedophiles and of flouting Irish law. The rare denunciation of the Holy See’s influence in this predominantly Catholic country came just a week after the government issued a report accusing the Vatican of sabotaging Irish bishops’ 1996 decision to begin reporting suspected cases of child abuse to the police.
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The report gave details of a confidential letter sent in 1997 by the Vatican’s nuncio, or ambassador, in Ireland to Irish bishops, warning them that their child-protection policies violated canon law, which states that priests accused of abuse should be able to appeal their cases to the Vatican. “This is not Rome. This is the Republic of Ireland 2011, a republic of laws,” Prime Minister Enda Kenny told lawmakers on Wednesday. He said the church’s leaders had repeatedly sought to defend their institutions at the expense of children. It was the first time that Ireland’s Parliament had criticized the Vatican, rather than local church leaders, over the 17 years of pedophile-priest scandals in Ireland.
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The sad reality is that Pope Benedict XVI and most of the bishops and cardinals belong behind bars. The Catholic laity needs to face this fact and vote with their feet. Here in the USA, the Episcopal Church and ELCA are two options that ought to be pursued by Catholics who do not want to be accessories to sexual abuse of children and youths.
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