Friday, July 15, 2011

Es ist höchste Zeit nicht mehr das Knie vor dem Vatikan zu beugen

Time to stop bending the knee to the Vatican

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. And of course it's not the first time the Vatican has behaved disgracefully.

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