Ireland condemns Vatican secrecy on Cloyne Diocese pedophile priests. Ireland vis-à-vis USA: the way they deal with crimes by the Vatican

Ireland exported Catholicism (that came with some inherent evil baggage) to the world through its many Irish missionaries in centuries past but it may also as well export the key necessary changes in Catholicism– based on today’s standards - to end the Totalitarianism of the Vatican in the 21st century. An important issue today is the invincible Sacrament of Confession caught in the crossfire between the Ireland Government versus the Vatican City or Vatican “country” -- as Ireland condemns the Vatican for its secrecy and cover-up of 19 pedophile priests in the wake of the 400 page ‘Report of the Commission of Investigation into the sexual abuse of children by priests in the Diocese of Cloyne’ published on July 13, 2011. It is commendable (but action speaks louder than words) that Prime Minister Enda Kenny, on July 14, immediately the day after the report was released, said that "The law of the land should not be stopped by a crozier or by a collar" and the Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald said Catholic priests could be jailed if they fail to report child sex abuse crimes they hear in the sacrament of confession, even if that ‘seal of confession’ is decreed by church law, and the Justice Minister Alan Shatter said that he does not want to wait “weeks or months” for the Vatican’s response to the Cloyne report. Mr. Shatter is darn right about waiting for “weeks or months” because the Vatican strategy is to takes years to respond to their crimes as they delay and bid for time to erase the memories of their crimes on people’s minds and emotions, read how many years the Vatican delayed during the glorious reign of John Paul II the Great, “... by the year’s end the Holy See had again failed to submit its second periodic report on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, due in 1997, and the initial report on the UN Convention against Torture, due in 2003.” Read our related article Amnesty International names Vatican in 2011 report on human rights violations - it's time the UN end the Vatican status as a "secular" state http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2011/05/amnesty-international-names-vatican-in.html.

Read our related article USA 9/11 victims 3,000. JP2 Army 100,000s. May Day: both Hitler and bin Laden Announced Dead on May 1 on John Paul II Beatification Day B-Day
http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2011/05/911-victims-5000-jp2-army-100000s-may.html

Actions speak louder than words indeed and let’s hope this time in Ireland, it won’t be the usual plethora of empty debates spun in the World Wide Web only to make the Vatican triumphant at the end – remember the New York Time’s “Cheap Gossip” elocution by Benedict XVI and Cardinal Sodano at the Vatican during Holy Week last Year?, read about it here Anti-Semitism card & the Vatican defense circus for Benedict XVI the guilty despot of 1.2 billion Catholics the people in denial http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/04/anti-semitism-card-vatican-defense.html. Shortly after that, Benedict XVI went to England into the warm embrace of Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Cameron open arms and glorious speeches and the Vatican thus claimed Benedict XVI’s triumphant British journey and the cementing of Vatican imperialism and totalitarianism, read our related article here http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/12/opus-dei-owns-bbc-among-its-global.html . Let’s hope that what the New York Times and media have not achieve so far -- will be accomplished finally by the Ireland Government as it imposes -- actions of changes – especially the dethronement of the powers Vatican over civil secular laws -- which are much needed for the 21st century, read our related article on Fr. Murphy Fr. Murphy in the Evil Eyes of Benedict XVI On 'Today' Show: Religious Leader Tells Americans To 'Continue The Faith In Christ' http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2011/06/fr-murphy-in-evil-eyes-of-benedict-xvi.html. Benedict dispatches to Ireland 9 Apostolic Visitors -- all who are ignorant about “secular crimes” and know only of "quickie forgiveness of sins" http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/06/benedict-dispatches-to-ireland-9.html

It begins with a single government and it takes many governments to dethrone the legitimacy of another government, just like the governments today are denying the legitimacy of the Khadafi regime in Libya, read our related article World Population to hit 7 Billion. The Vatican's diplomatic immunity days are numbered http://popecrimes.blogspot.com/2011/07/world-population-to-hit-7-billion-and.html . It is time to end the Vatican as a “country” and consequently end the abuse of powers by the Pope and the Vatican who keep claiming (in the name of God) that they are above all laws and above all governments in the world, "above and beyond all else" , and the Sacrament of Confession is one of their main tools, read our related article ‘Forgiveness’ is a tool of injustice to victims of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army. To Vaticanista chiesa.espresso Sandro Magister, Baloney! http://jp2army.blogspot.com/2010/03/forgiveness-is-gizmo-of-injustice-to.html. The Catholics should learn from the Arab youths in their Arab Awakening and Arab Spring (not in the name of Allah) who are dethroning all their kings and despots, read our related article Holy Heist! John Paul II WYD had no role with Arab youths who liberated Egypt from Mubarak who stole then deposited billions into Vatican Swiss Banks http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2011/02/holy-heist-john-paul-ii-wyd-had-no-role.html
Read also our article, It is time for the French Revolution at the Vatican: Benedict XVI must resign, Cardinal Bernard Law et al must resign …Shut-down the Vatican http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/03/it-is-time-for-french-revolution-at.html

Note that Ireland is to host the next International Eucharistic Congress next year – so, will Prime Minister Enda Kenny, the Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald and Justice Minister Alan Shatter keep true to their words regarding the Cloyne Report or will add water into their wine and welcome Benedict XVI with open arms and glorious speeches like what Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Cameron did last year in England?? Will authorities in Ireland tell to the Vatican and to the whole world that the Pope, Cardinals and Bishops and all priests have no power to say ‘Let there be light’ and thus there was no light, that they have no power to create the stars and animals, and most of all that they have no power to re-incarnate dead cats and dead dogs, and therefore they have no power whatsoever to re-incarnate the flesh and blood the Crucified Christ, their professed God and Creator of the Universe Jesus Christ, read our related article John Paul smelled Devil`s Bowels as roses for 27 years as he deified Father Marcial Maciel and deified Cardinal Bernard Law http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2011/04/john-paul-smelled-devils-bowels-as.html

Read our articles

The 9 months pregnancy of Mary with the Baby Jesus versus the 9-seconds re-incarnation of Jesus in the Host of the Mass through the sorcery of sinful priests http://stella0maris.blogspot.com/2010/01/magisterium-benedict-versus-holy-mary.html

Benedict XVI and the Vatican are the worst pathological liars on earth. Benedict XVI is the mythomaniac of the 21st century!!! http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/11/benedict-xvi-and-vatican-are-worst.html

Eve and Benedict XVI blame the Devil. Analysis of Pope’s homily in Year for Priests -sorcerers of Christ’s flesh and blood http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/06/eve-and-benedict-xvi-blame-devil.html

Rome celebrations of Benedict XVI and 15,000 priests who are wizards worse than Harry Potter http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/06/rome-celebrations-of-benedict-xvi-and.html

Father P.J. Madden, spokesman for the Association of Catholic Priests, swiftly and adamantly responded to the Irish authorities by stating that the sacramental seal of confession is "above and beyond all else" even if what a penitent confesses is a crime (including pedophilia). So as the world watch this battle between religion and secular government, will priests and Church Canon Law continue to be above civil law of secular government – in the 21st century? Or will Ireland be the first country to stop the despotism of the Vatican, the autocracy of the Pope and the perpetuation of injustice by the Sacrament of Confession – once and for all? Read our related articles,
Sins and crimes are not synonymous. Sinners and criminals are not one and the same http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/05/sins-and-crimes-are-not-synonymous.html

Excerpt Sins and crimes are not synonymous. “Sins” is a Roman Catholic Church's word and theological concept while “crimes” is a secular word and society's reality. Sins are blamed on the Devil or Satan who tempted the Catholics’ first parents Adam and Eve to commit Original Sin while crimes are blamed on the criminals. Sins are forgiven by the Catholic Church while crimes are punishable in jail by secular law (secular means no God, no theology, doctrines and dogmas, no religious faith, no sacraments, no Mystical Body of Christ). Sinners are forgiven in 2 minutes by Catholic priests while criminals are tried in courts for hours and months or years by government judges. Sins are forgiven and forgotten while crimes are punished and commemorated and their responsible leaders are bounty hunted like September 11 and Osama bin Laden. (That is why we need a SNAP monument in Boston to remember and honor the victims of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army because the sins of pedophile priests-sinners have long been forgiven and forgotten by John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Cardinal Bernard Law and their Cardinals and Bishops cohorts who covered-up their pedophile sins).

Theology and John Paul II are heartless and together they made the immoral Fr. Marcial Maciel thrive http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2010/05/theology-and-john-paul-ii-are-heartless.html

Spiritual healing, the Eucharist and the Rosary bring NEITHER JUSTICE NOR SAFETY FOR CHILDREN, the preys of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2010/05/spiritual-healing-eucharist-and-rosary.html

Oprah did more good than John Paul II for 25 years. Oprah gave truth and exposed evil while John Paul II hid them in his 2 evil papal Achilles Heels http://jp2m.blogspot.com/

Ireland vis-à-vis USA

Pedophile Priests: 19 Irish vis-à-vis 6,000 Americans

There is a very huge difference between Ireland and the United States of America in the way they deal with the priest pedophiles in their respective countries. Benedict XVI barely mentioned the ‘clergy abuse on minors’ when he came to Washington D.C. and New York in 2008 as President George Bush accorded him with a 21 gun salute ‘Head of State’ welcome at the White House and a “Happy Birthday” singing to celebrate his 81 birthday, read more here , Opus Dei Pope #2-Benedict XVI control George W. Bush, the '1st Catholic President' http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2008/04/opus-dei-pope-2-benedict-xvi-control.html Opus Dei Pope #2 - Benedict XVI praise the most corrupt crop of Bishops in Washington, DC http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2008/04/obviously-opus-dei-pope-2-still-doesnt.html and Opus Dei Patron Saint of Pedophiles, Pederasts and Rapists : Prayer to Saint John Paul II = Opus Dei Pope #1.... Benedict XVI is Opus Dei Pope #2 http://jp2army.blogspot.com/2011/04/john-paul-ii-saint-of-pedophiles-and.html. At that time there were already confirmed 5,400 pedophile priests (today 6,000) and more than 11,000 sex abuse victims in USA and more than 2 billion dollars paid as settlements by American Catholic Dioceses.

By contrast, today, as Ireland released on July 13, 2011, its government findings on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne concerning 19 priests who committed pedophilia between 1996 and 2009. Benedict XVI is already consider cancelling his trip to Ireland (for the International Eucharistic Congress, see news below) due to unforgiving criticisms against the Vatican, the Irish Government is thinking about closing the Irish Embassy to the Holy See, Prime Minister Enda Kenny said that "The law of the land should not be stopped by a crozier or by a collar", the Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald said that Catholic priests could be jailed for failing to report child sex abuse crimes they hear in the sacrament of confession, the Justice Minister Alan Shatter says he does not want to wait “weeks or months” for the Vatican’s response to the Cloyne report, Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore in Dublin immediately called in the Papal Nuncio Giuseppe Leanza for a a face-to-face meeting on Vatican accountability, majority of the Irish press condemns the Vatican as well. President George Bush, the Senate, Congress, the US Supreme Court and the US media did none of these things as they welcomed Pope Benedict XVI with open arms even if they knew about the USA priest pedophilia phenomenon and that Benedict XVI is a criminal, read about The Hague: Full text Criminal Charges against Dr. Joseph Ratzinger, Pope of the Roman Catholic Church http://popecrimes.blogspot.com/2011/05/full-text-of-criminal-charges-against.html

America, wake up and see the Victims in USA - Attackers - Responsible Leaders

Pearl Harbor - 3,000 victims - 170 planes - Admiral Yamamoto

WTC & 9/11 attacks - 3,000 victims - 19 Muslims - Osama bin Laden

JP2 Army - 15,736 victims - 6,000 pedophile priests - John Paul II & Benedict XVI & Opus Dei, the new Vatican Trinity

Opus Dei controlled the 27 years papacy of John Paul II and is therefore the foremost guilty party who aided and abetted and covered-up the John Paul II Pedophiles Rapists-Priests Army. Opus Dei wrote most of John Paul II’s books and writings and to ensure their perpetuity as “All things Catholic”, they want JP2 to be beatified and canonized now by Benedict XVI so as not to take any chances on other future popes. The FACE of Opus Dei is John Paul II and the PHANTOM Spirit of Opus Dei is their founder St. Josemaria Escriva, read our related article John Paul II, Patron of Pederasts and Opus Dei – analysis of Joaquin Navarro-Valls’ reasons for JP2 beatification at Opus Dei conference in Rome http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2011/04/narcissism-and-grandiosity-of-john-paul.html

The 15,736 victims is from the recent report of the US Catholic Bishops Conference harmed by almost 6,000 pedophile priests. Note that the victims of the JP2 Army are 5 times those of Osama's 9-11, read more 9/11 victims 3,000. JP2 Army 100,000s. May Day: both Hitler and bin Laden Announced Dead on May 1 on John Paul II Beatification Day B-Day http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2011/05/911-victims-5000-jp2-army-100000s-may.html

So where is the merit of the papal “personal holiness” of the fastest tracking saint in modern times? Is a “Blessed” John Paul II making the Vatican and the Catholic Church any better in terms of truth and justice by “today’s standards’? Read the Vatican timeline and its measure of John Paul II’s fast-track sainthood in this NEWSWEEK Magazine article by John Allen in our sister blog JP2 Army http://jp2army.blogspot.com/2011/05/john-lallen-jrthe-pied-piper-of-john.html

A dew days after Benedict XVI beatified John Paul II before 1.5 billion fanatic Catholics in Rome in May 1, Amnesty International condemned the Vatican guilty for the violation of human rights especially those of children worldwide who were abused by thousands of pedophile priests, read our related article Amnesty International http://jp2army.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-13-amnesty-international-indict.html The countless pedophile priests worldwide are aptly called the John Paul II Pedophiles Priests Army because John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger now Benedict XVI had ample time for over 16 years to say something and stop them but they didn’t hence they condoned them. May 1 is a very significant day because it was also the same day that Osama bin Laden was finally killed by American Navy Seals and the same day that Hitler’s death was announced. Osama bin Laden and Adolf Hitler and John Paul II all share the same anniversary day on May 1 – by coincidence or God-incidence -- because they led the most heinous crimes in the 20th century. Everyone knows that Adolf Hitler led the Holocaust against 6 million Jews in his greed to make the Germans the “superior race”. Osama bin Laden led the Al-Qaeda in the 9-11 World Trade Center attacks killing 3,000 American victims. John Paul II in his obsession to leave a legacy as “John Paul II the Great” harmed 15,736 American children and hundreds of thousands of children in other countries through his evil Achilles Heels the Jp2 Army -- during his quarter of the 20the century papacy covered-up and thus enabled thousands of pedophile priests– 6,000 in the USA alone, not counting those of other countries. Together with Cardinal Ratzinger under his Holy See watch he deified the serial pedophile Fr. Marcial Maciel and Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston who admitted to transferring 80 pedophile priests from one parish to another, read our related article MAY DAY: John Paul II,Adolf Hitler,Osama bin Laden share the same DAY OF INFAMY on MAY 1 http://jp2army.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-day-john-paul-iiadolf-hitlerosama.html

As John Paul II is on his way to be canonized soon in a few months time (before Pope Benedict XVI dies) the JP2 Army legacy he left behind continues to rock the world like an earthquake fault, read our related article The Nazis and the John Paul II Pedophiles Rapists-Priests Army were both an inherently evil all-male elite hierarchy born from the Devil's bowels http://jp2army.blogspot.com/2011/01/nazis-and-john-paul-ii-pedophiles.html . Soon as Benedict XVI announced that he was a “Venerable”, Ireland erupted with its JP2 Army and the Ryan and Murphy Report that found tens of thousands of children sexually abused by children, read more here John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army expands into Ireland &John Paul is elevated as "Venerable"... only in the Catholic Church are criminals glorified http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html Benedict XVI dispatched some Cardinals and “Apostolic Visitation” as if these Catholic ceremonial men would simply make the crimes against children disappear with their magic Catholic wand of the Eucharist.

Ireland is still jolting with the JP2 Army with the battle between Ireland’s secular law and Vatican Canon Law. May the best law win!

Anger mounts at Vatican silence on Cloyne sex abuse report

IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
By Shane Pelan
Friday, 15 July 2011

The Irish government was at war with the Vatican last night over its silence on the Cloyne sex abuse report as anger grew at the failure of Bishop John Magee to publicly apologise for his role in the scandal.
Relations between the Republic and the Holy See deteriorated dramatically yesterday, with Mr Kenny describing the Vatican's attitude towards the reporting of abuse allegations as "absolutely disgraceful".
Mr Kenny backed tough new laws that will compel priests to report paedophiles to gardai, even if they are told of the abuse in the confession box.


Present status of clerics mentioned in the Cloyne report
IRELAND
Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne
The report as published refers to allegations, concerns or suspicions concerning 19 different clerics which were brought to the attention of the diocese between 1996 and 2009.

The terms of reference of the Commission extended to all complaints received by Church or civil authorities since 1996. These complaints received in that time frame referred to cases from the 1930s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s 1990s and 2000s.

Of the 19 clerics mentioned in the report, 2 are not priests of Cloyne diocese – 1 is a member of a religious order and 1 retired from Brisbane diocese – and 1 is unidentifiable. Of the complaints received against the remaining 16 clerics of the diocese, in 11 cases the complaints/concerns received met the criteria for credible allegations of sexual abuse. One of these priests was subsequently prosecuted and convicted of an offence in this regard.

In relation to the 11 priests whose cases met the criteria for credible allegations of sexual abuse,

•7 are now deceased
•1 has left the priesthood.
•3 are out of ministry.

Government wants fast Vatican response to Cloyne

IRELAND
Newstalk
[with audio]
The Justice Minster Alan Shatter says he does not want to wait “weeks or months” for the Vatican’s response to the Cloyne report.
The Government formally requested answers from the Vatican following a meeting with the Papal Nuncio Guiseppe Leanza yesterday.
It comes as the Government issues its response to the findings of the Cloyne report, by publishing the “Childrens First” guidelines later today.



Unholy war on cards as angry Gilmore takes aim at the Vatican
IRELAND
Irish Independent
By Lise Hand

Friday July 15 2011

HIS Excellency Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza looked distinctly rattled as he stood on the steps of Iveagh House. Shortly after the Cloyne Report had been published on Wednesday, the papal nuncio had been made an offer he couldn't refuse.
The Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs had summoned him to the department to present him with a copy of the latest account of the failures of the Catholic Church and also to express the extreme displeasure of the Government over the report's finding that the Vatican meddled directly in Irish matters of state.
And so the papal nuncio was wearing the hunted look of a chap who had been hauled unceremoniously over some piping-hot coals when he emerged from the 30-minute meeting. In a barely-audible voice he read from a prepared statement -- which was all of 38 seconds long.


Ireland Confronts the Vatican

IRELAND
The New York Times

Throughout the long scandal of sexual abuse by rogue priests, the Vatican has blatantly resisted the idea that civil law must trump church rules in confronting criminal acts. This was evident again in the revelation that the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland continued to cover up abuse cases long after it had issued rules to protect children in 1996.
“The law of the land should not be stopped by crosier or by collar,” Prime Minister Enda Kenny declared after receiving a detailed report on Wednesday showing that abuses were occurring as recently as 2009.
A principal factor in the cover-up, the government study found, was a Vatican letter in 1997 warning Irish church leaders against full cooperation with law enforcement authorities. The papal representative wrote that the anti-abuse policies conflicted with church law and should be considered “merely a study document.”


Ireland attacks confessional secrecy after Catholic sex abuse scandal

IRELAND
Reuters

Ireland’s prime minister has said Catholic clerics would be prosecuted if they failed to tell the authorities about crimes disclosed during confession, the latest blow to the prestige of the once-dominant Church. A report this week found that the Church concealed from the authorities the sexual abuse of children by priests as recently as 2009, and that clerics appeared to follow Church law rather than Irish guidelines to protect minors.

“The law of the land should not be stopped by a crozier or a collar,” Prime Minister Enda Kenny told journalists on Thursday, referring to the hooked staff held by Catholic bishops during religious services. Kenny said his government would submit legislation to parliament that could jail clerics for up to five years if they failed to report to authorities information about the abuse of children.
The law will override the confessional privilege in Church law that prevents clerics from sharing information, he said. A series of revelations of rape and beatings by members of religious orders and the priesthood in the past have shattered the dominant role of the Catholic Church in Ireland.


'Inadequate. Inappropriate. Ineffective. Entirely unhelpful.'

IRELAND
The Irish Times
Cover (PDF - 597KB)

Introductory Pages (PDF - 574KB)

Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Diocese of Cloyne (PDF - 1.8MB)

[Background of the Cloyne Report]
PAUL CULLEN, PATSY McGARRY and PADDY AGNEW
THE CLOYNE REPORT ON THE BISHOP AND THE VATICAN: TOUGH NEW laws to force the disclosure of information on child sexual abuse are to be introduced in response to another damning report on the failure of the Catholic Church to protect child abuse victims.
The withholding of information about serious offences against a child will be made a criminal offence, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter announced yesterday following the publication of the report on the handling of sex abuse claims in the diocese of Cloyne.
Further measures, including a statutory child protection code, are to be announced by Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald tomorrow.
The report found that the Bishop of Cloyne, John Magee, misled the minister for children by claiming the church’s guidelines for handling abuse cases were being fully complied with. It also found he falsely told the Health Service Executive (HSE) that allegations of abuse were being reported to gardaí.

===========

The Prime Minister and government of Ireland and 99% of the media in Ireland have condemned the Vatican for its crime of cover-up of 19 pedophile priests in the Cloyne Diocese and all these, with the news articles below, immensely confirm our analysis of the new Vatican Guidelines on sex abuse to take effect only in 2012 read our article here http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2011/05/save.html Vatican guidelines on sex abuse are hogwash as long as Cardinal Bernard Law sits as High Priest in Rome - apply first to him &his 80 pedophile priests

Ireland's JP2 Army also confirm our analysis of the JP2 Army in the USA, read the full article 9/11 victims 3,000. JP2 Army 100,000s. May Day: both Hitler and bin Laden Announced Dead on May 1 on John Paul II Beatification Day B-Day http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2011/05/911-victims-5000-jp2-army-100000s-may.html

Cloyne facts expose the pathology of the church

IRELAND
The Irish Times
THOMAS DOYLE

OPINION: Unless the Catholic hierarchy examines its obsession with power it cannot reform itself

MUCH OF the Cloyne report brought no surprises to the people of Ireland and those of us in other countries who had anticipated its publication. In many ways it was a continuation of the revelations that came with the three commission reports that preceded it.

The report was met with the expected “heartfelt” expressions of regret, apology and even shock by officials of the Catholic Church, followed by promises of reform and the promulgation of yet more procedures, policies and boards. By now the Irish people, however, are beyond suspicion and cynicism. They have broken through another layer of the protective clerical veneer and have named the responses for what they are: a mendacious smokescreen.

It is no consolation to the Irish people but they are certainly not alone. This debacle in the Diocese of Cloyne is reflected in the recent publication of the report of the grand jury in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Five years after a first jury exposed widespread cover-up and shameful treatment of victims, followed by the usual promises to clean up the mess, a second grand jury found that the expressions of regret and promises of reform were a deceptive cover for an intentional lack of commitment to bring justice to victims and protect children.


Papal visit now looks doomed after Cloyne backlash hits Church

IRELAND
Herald
By Michael Lavery and Cormac Murphy
Friday July 15 2011

PROPOSALS for a Papal visit to Ireland next summer are likely to be shelved in the wake of the Cloyne report.
The State and the Catholic Church remained on a collision course after the chairman of Fine Gael called for the Pope's representative in Ireland to be expelled.
It was also suggested that the Government could close our embassy to the Holy See as public anger grows over the failure of Bishop John Magee to publicly apologise for the scandal.

Asked for his reaction to calls for the Papal Nuncio to be expelled, Justice Minister Alan Shatter said the direct interference by another state in preventing the application in Ireland of child protection guidelines is unacceptable.

Ireland withdraws welcome mat?

IRELAND
National Catholic Reporter
by Dennis Coday on Jul. 15, 2011 NCR Today

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Ireland's foreign minister scolded the the country's papal nuncio over Vatican complicity in the cover up and mishandling of clerical abuse in Ireland, as revealed in the Cloyne Report.

Now Irish media are reporting that the leader of Fine Gael, the largest political party in Ireland, is calling for the nuncio to be expelled and that Pope Benedict XVI's expected visit next summer was "likely to be shelved."

Read the full report here: Papal visit now looks doomed after Cloyne backlash hits Church.

The Vatican has never confirmed that Pope Benedict would be visitng Ireland next year -- it wouldn't until much closer to the trip -- but there has been much speculation that a papal visit was being planned. Sicne this spring, Irish media have been reporting that the pope would be the chief celebrant at an open air Mass to end the week-long International Eucharistic Congress next June.

Like it or not, all roads lead to Rome

IRELAND
The Irish Times
PATRICK SMYTH
WORLD VIEW: Bishop Magee has implicitly shown a firm line of church authority all the way to Rome
BISHOP JOHN Magee produced two written accounts of his conversation with “Fr Caden”: one, true, describing an admission of abuse by the priest, the other, fictitious, a flat denial and protestations of innocence. Significantly, Magee filed the true version with the Vatican, the fictitious account with the diocese of Cloyne. What mattered was the Vatican. (No question of going to the Garda.)
In doing so, however, Magee implicitly acknowledged what the Vatican has been trying to fudge for years in its responses to the worldwide abuse scandals – that a firm line of authority, and hence of moral and legal responsibility, runs all the way to Rome. Vatican protestations that national hierarchies are autonomous, not wholly owned subsidiaries, are wearing distinctly thin.
Legally the Vatican has insisted both that it, as an independent state, has “sovereign immunity” and so cannot be held liable before a court for the actions of its agents, and that in any case priests cannot be regarded as its agents/employees in a legal sense.


Decline of the Irish Catholic Church

IRELAND
Religion & Ethics Newsweekly
[video]
DEBORAH POTTER, correspondent: It’s often called the Emerald Isle—and with good reason. Ireland is as green as ever. But the country that once was a bastion of Roman Catholicism has changed. The vast majority of people here still call themselves Catholic—87% on the most recent census. But many of the most faithful church-goers in Ireland today aren’t even Irish.

This Sunday mass in Limerick is said in Polish for some of the thousands of immigrants who poured in during the economic boom of the past decade. But it’s hard to find an Irish congregation this packed, and especially this young, in bigger cities.

PATSY McGARRY, The Irish Times: People still identify themselves as culturally Catholic even though they no longer go to mass or go to confession. You’ll see them at first communions, you’ll see them at confirmations, you’ll see them at funerals. They’re taking a very much an a la carte view to the practice of their religion.

POTTER: As recently as the 1970s, almost 90% of Irish Catholics went to mass at least once a week. Today, the number is closer to 25%. And in some parts of Dublin, just two or three percent of self-described Catholics regularly go to church.

To Irish woman: Did you grow up Catholic by chance?

WOMAN: Yes.

POTTER: Do you go to mass now?

WOMAN: Not really that much. Not that much at all.



The Cloyne Report

IRELAND
Spiritual Politics (United States)
By Mark Silk on July 15, 2011

The latest report on sexual abuse by clergy in Ireland lays the problem firmly on the pope's doorstep: "The reaction of the Vatican to the Framework Document was entirely unhelpful to any bishop who wanted to implement the agreed procedures." The Framework Document was drafted in 1996 to establish procedures for handling abuse cases. But the Congregation for the Clergy refused to "recognize" it, principally because it included a mandatory reporting requirement. A confidential communication to this effect gave license to Bishop of Cloyne John Magee (and any other bishop who didn't like the Framework) to decline to report cases that came to his attention--leading to his resignation in 2009. What the Cloyne Report does is connect the dots.
The Irish government now seems prepared to deal with Vatican, Inc. the way the English government is dealing with News International Ltd. The papal nuncio has been dressed down. An apology has been demanded from Rome. There is talk of closing the embassy in Vatican City. And parliament is poised to require reporting of evidence of abuse to the civil authorities, including such evidence as emerges under seal of the Confessional.

As Ann Doyle of BishopAccountability.org points out, the Cloyne Report is "eerily similar" to the report of the Philadelphia grand jury report earlier this year, which detailed that archdiocese's flouting of national norms for the handling of abuse cases. But unlike Bishop Magee, Cardinal Justin Rigali remains in office, as has almost every other bishop who has failed to deal properly with abuse cases.

Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Diocese of Cloyne
IRELAND
Bock the Robber

The Cloyne diocese report has been issued and a download is available here.

Among other findings, the commission found that

The Vatican showed no interest in helping to set up systems for protecting children from abusive clerics.

John Magee, the bishop at the time, failed to operate the agreed child-protection measures and showed no interest in dealing with complaints of sexual abuse. He lied to the minister for children and the HSE about complying with his church’s own guidelines.


Lessons from Cloyne Sex Abuse Report — Time To Remove Power from Bishops

IRELAND
Bock the Robber
By Bock
This is not the Lord of the Rings. This is Ireland in the 21st century, and the Cloyne report is about events that happened, not a millennium ago. Not even a half century ago. The report includes events that happened two or three years back. Today, in other words.

After all the bishops’ talk of learning curves, and nearly twenty years after the Brendan Smyth affair brought down a government, we discover not only that a bishop had no interest in protecting children, but that the man he appointed to deal with complaints has little respect for Irish law compared to Roman Catholic rules, which he regards as superior in all respects.

There is no place called Cloyne, except in the minds of the clergy. The so-called Cloyne report is about North Cork, a real place with real people, not some demented ecclesiastical Middle Earth. And the inhabitants of Cloyne are not Hobbits but real people, who were terrorised, unfortunately, by the fiends of Sauron Magee as he languished in his Dark Tower, aka Cobh Cathedral.


Time for a clerical child abuse inquiry in Northern Ireland

NORTHERN IRELAND
Slugger O'Toole
Patrick Corrigan, Fri 15 July 2011
Momentum is building for an inquiry into clerical child abuse in Northern Ireland.

With four inquiries now completed south of the border – Ferns, Ryan, Dublin and now Cloyne – northern abuse victims are rightly asking: what about us?

Their calls have now been echoed by SDLP MLA Conall McDevitt and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness:
I absolutely believe there should be the same thorough investigations in the northern dioceses as there have been in previous dioceses in the south.

We cannot north of the border view ourselves as being in the clear from all that happened in the south whenever I think many of us now know instinctively that that’s not the case.

What is this all about? This is about the protection of innocent children and there is a duty and a responsibility on all of us who are in important positions.


Sack the bishops who fail in their duty: Fr Brian D'Arcy
IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
By Connla Young
Friday, 15 July 2011

One of Ireland's best-known priests has called for bishops who don't make the protection of children a priority to be sacked.
Fr Brian D'Arcy says top clergymen who fail in their duty to protect the vulnerable should be stripped of their robes.
The Fermanagh-based Passionist priest was speaking after the Cloyne Report found that Bishop John Magee had failed to report allegations of abuse of children in his diocese to authorities.


Time to stop bending the knee to the Vatican

IRELAND
Herald
Friday July 15 2011
DEAR Tanaiste,
Well done, first of all. When the Murphy Report on the Dublin Diocese was published, I (and others) suggested that the Papal Nuncio should be summoned to account for the behaviour of the Vatican then. But he wasn't.
Your decision to demand accountability reflects, I think, the genuine anger of the people of Ireland at the disgraceful behaviour of the Holy See.

The Cloyne Report makes it clear that the Vatican in effect encouraged bishops to reject the Irish church's own child-protection rules. Back in 1997 they wrote to Ireland's bishops basically telling them they should place the church's law above the law of the country. The consequence of that intervention was not just to ignore Ireland's sovereignty, but also to give comfort to people who were content to protect the child abusers in their midst.


The accused: What the report says about 18 priests

IRELAND
The Irish Times

Priests mentioned in the report were given pseudonyms
‘Fr Corin’
IN 1994, “Nia” complained to a bishop outside Cloyne about abuse by Fr Corin. She said he moved to her parish when she was nine or 10 and had a housekeeper in her late teens. When she visited the house he would sit her on his lap and put his hands under her clothes. The abuse continued until he left the parish when she was 16.
Interviewed by Msgr O’Callaghan, Fr Corin denied “serious interference” but admitted fondling between four and six girls in the 1960s. He said he petted Nia and on occasion this went too far.
Msgr O’Callaghan concluded there had been no abuse, only “overfamiliarity”.
The commission says: “It was clearly and unequivocally child sexual abuse.”
A second complainant, “Oifa”, recalled an incident when she was 10 in the 1960s and Fr Corin sat her on his lap and put his hands beneath her clothes. In 1996, Fr Corin met Bishop Magee and acknowledged he was guilty of child sexual abuse. He resigned his ministry and died in 2002.
The commission says there was no attempt to have Fr Corin assessed to see whether he was a continuing danger to children and no attempt was made to establish the extent of his abusive behaviour. There is no evidence that he was restricted from ministering in public and parishioners were not told of the real reason for his resignation. It is also critical of the lack of a proper Garda investigation into complaints.
‘Fr Darien’
Fr Darien died in 1997, a few months after a complaint was made about him. The complainant, “Rona”, said she had been sexually assaulted by him when she was aged about 16 and working in the laundry of a girls’ home in the 1960s. Nothing was done about the complaint because, Msgr O’Callaghan said, Fr Darien was terminally ill at the time. The commission says proper procedures were not followed. There was no reporting to the civil authorities and no further inquiries were made.


Minister planning law to prosecute people who fail to report child sex abuse

IRELAND
The Irish Times
PAMELA DUNCAN

POLITICAL REACTION: LEGISLATION which will make it an offence for people aware of child sexual abuse to withhold this information from gardaí is due to be enacted later this year.
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter, who announced the upcoming legislation in the wake of the publication of the Cloyne report, also expressed the State’s “sorrow and profound apology” for any failings on its part in relation to the revelations contained in the report.
He strongly criticised the Catholic Church’s handling of allegations of clerical abuse in Cloyne, saying the findings “could not be starker or more disturbing”.


Colum Kenny: The great and deliberate deception

IRELAND
Irish Independent
Sunday July 17 2011

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore (who publicly opposed the holding of a second Lisbon referendum while reportedly telling the US Embassy in private that he would support one) expects the Vatican's ambassador to account for his church's two-faced approach to child abuse.

And the Minister for Justice of a Government whose two most senior members made misleading promises about the future of Roscommon Hospital, last week condemned the "disingenuousness" of Bishop John Magee.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter won headlines last week by proposing new legislation that appears to promise that priests will be jailed if they fail to report abuse, even if they learn of it in a confessional. But the small print does not actually say that. As the person who asked him at his press conference if priests would be expected to break the seal of the confessional, I can say reports of its demise are premature.

In fact, his proposed new law allows those with a "reasonable excuse" not to report allegations of abuse, and those excuses explicitly include the situation where an abused person makes it known that he or she does not want the gardai to be told. Existing legal precedents also suggest that courts could find other "reasonable excuses" implicitly include those of lawyers, doctors, bishops or priests who believe they have a privileged relationship with a patient, client, priest or penitent.


Pope Benedict set to cancel Irish visit after harsh criticism of Vatican

IRELAND
Irish Central
By
JAMES O'BRIEN,
IrishCentral.com Staff Reporter
Pope Benedict is said to be reviewing his planned trip to Ireland next year after the Irish government issued harsh criticism of the Vatican over the latest church cover up scandal, according to the Irish Independent.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny and Deputy Leader Eamon Gilmore have slammed the Vatican for their policy of urging bishops not to accept the guidelines laid down by the Irish hierarchy on reporting child abuse.

The criticism came after the retired Bishop of Cloyne John Magee was harshly criticised after 19 priests in his diocese suspected of pedophilia were given kid gloves treatment, apparently at the behest of the Vatican.

Closing embassy to the Vatican could save €2.4m - but at what cost?

ROME
The Irish Times
PADDY AGNEW in Rome

Holy See takes dim view of countries that only have an ambassador to the Italian state

RATIONALISING Ireland’s diplomatic service in Rome could save the taxpayer €2.4 million.
That sum would be saved if Ireland moved its embassy to the Italian state to the site of its embassy to the Holy See, and in turn moved its Holy See ambassador to a base in an existing embassy in a neighbouring country.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny indicated this week in the wake of the Cloyne report that the Government might close the Irish Embassy to the Holy See