THE VATICAN’S assertion that Taoiseach Enda Kenny made an “unfounded” allegation against it in his Dáil speech on the Cloyne report has been firmly rejected by Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore.
In its response to the Cloyne report at the weekend, the Vatican described as “unfounded” the Taoiseach’s Dáil claim on July 20th that it attempted to frustrate an inquiry into abuse “as little as three years ago”.
When asked yesterday if the Government would stand over the Taoiseach’s claim that the Vatican tried to undermine an inquiry by the State, Mr Gilmore said: “Yes, the Government does stand over what the Taoiseach said in the Dáil. When the Taoiseach spoke in the Dáil, the Taoiseach was speaking for the Government and he was speaking, I believe, for the people of this country.”
Speaking at a Labour Party “think-in” at a hotel in Tullow, Co Carlow, he added: “The abuse of children is not acceptable. The abuse of children is intolerable.
“And those who didn’t act, didn’t discharge their responsibility to make sure that it stopped or that those who were responsible for it were brought to book, they have a case to answer and the Government makes no apology for stating that in the unambiguous terms that it was stated by the Taoiseach.”
Asked what he would be saying to his Cabinet colleagues in their discussion of the Vatican response, Mr Gilmore said: “Well, it’s a very detailed response. I think in many respects it probably misses the point.
“The point here, as far as the Government is concerned, is that the issue that we want addressed is the welfare of children and the protection of children.
“There was the most horrific sexual abuse of children perpetrated by clerics. The Catholic Church did not deal with that as it should have dealt with [it].”
When it was pointed out that Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin had asked for specifics about the particular instance of alleged obstruction cited by the Taoiseach, Mr Gilmore said: “Let’s be clear about the specifics. Children were abused. Let’s not be distracted now, let’s not miss the point.”
Asked it the Taoiseach had made loose charges in his Dáil speech, the Tánaiste replied: “No loose charges were made. There was a report, which was an official report, conducted into what happened in Cloyne. Children were abused, it was not handled appropriately by the church. We brought that to the attention of the Vatican and asked for their response. We are not going to be dragged into a prolonged semantic debate about standing up this phrase or that phrase.”
Meanwhile, a member of the leadership team of the Association of Catholic Priests has described the Vatican response at the weekend as “an excuse not an explanation”.
Speaking in a personal capacity Fr Seán McDonagh agreed with the Archbishop of Dublin about there being a cabal at the Vatican. It was made up “of right-wing Latin Americans such as Cardinal Hoyos . . . you don’t write to a French bishop to say that the best thing he did was to break the law,” he said.
Cardinal Hoyos was prefect of the Congregation for Clergy from 1996 to 2006. In 2001 he wrote a letter to French bishop Pierre Pican praising him for not passing information about an abuser priest to police.
Fr McDonagh welcomed the Government’s holding of the Vatican to account on the abuse issue, saying “it is the first time this has been done”. He also said it was “really good to see these questions being asked”.
