Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has said comments made by Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi about the recently published Cloyne report are "somewhat unfortunate and disingenuous".
Making his first extended comments on the implications of the report, Fr Lombardi said yesterday there was nothing in the advice given by the papal nuncio to Irish bishops which could be interpreted as an invitation to cover up abuse cases.
Fr Lombardi said a controversial letter from papal nuncio Luciano Storero in 1997 was grossly misinterpreted following publication of the report last week.
The letter delivered the reaction of the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy to the child protection measures introduced by Irish bishops a year earlier.
The Cloyne report, which was published last week, said the papal nuncio's letter was “entirely unhelpful to any bishop who wanted to implement the agreed procedures”.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Shatter said the Cloyne report made it clear that the letter "greatly strengthened the position of those in Cloyne who did not approve of the Church's framework document of the protection of children.
"The letter sent by the papal nuncio quoting extracts from the congregation for the clergy published, made it very clear that in the view of the papal nuncio and the congregation (that) the framework document was a mere study," said Mr Shatter.
In the letter, the Vatican representative states: “In particular, the situation of ‘mandatory reporting’ gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and a canonical nature”. This has been widely interpreted as an invitation to implement a "cover-up" and not to report cases of clerical child abuse to civil authorities.
However, Fr Lombardi said: “There is no good reason to understand that letter as an invitation to cover up abuse cases. In truth, it was pointed out that there was a risk that sanctions might be taken which could later be judged invalid or questionable from the canonical viewpoint, thus thwarting the very intentions . . . of the Irish bishops . . . There is absolutely nothing in the letter which could be seen as an invitation not to respect the laws of the land.”
Commenting on Fr Lombardi's comments, Mr Shatter said he expected a "careful and considered response to the very detailed report from Cloyne".
He said he thought such a response should include "an absolute assurance that in the future all instances of child abuse that come to the notice of authorities within the church will be reported to An Garda Síochána".
Our central concern is the protection of children. We must ensure that the harm done to children in the past in so far as is possible isn't again done in the future and where there are instances of child abuse they are immediately made known to An Garda Síochána and to the Health Service Executive (HSE)," Mr Shatter added.
A Government motion on the Cloyne report, is to be debated in the Dáil today.
The motion “deplores the Vatican’s intervention which contributed to the undermining of the child protection frameworks and guidelines of the Irish State and the Irish bishops”.
It also expresses “dismay at the disturbing findings of the report and at the inadequate and inappropriate response, particularly of the church authorities in Cloyne, to complaints and allegations of child sexual abuse”.
