Summary of the Response to Mr Eamon Gilmore, Tánaiste and
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland, concerning the Cloyne
Report
On 14 July 2011, following the publication of the Report of
the Commission of Investigation into the Diocese of Cloyne (Cloyne Report),
Mr Eamon Gilmore, DeputyPrime Minister (Tánaiste) and Minister for
Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland, in the course of a meeting with the Apostolic
Nuncio in Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, conveyed the Irish Government’s request
for a response from the Holy See to the Report and to the Government’s views in its
regard. 1. General remarks about the Cloyne Report
The
Holy See has carefully examined the Cloyne Report, which has brought to light
very serious and disturbing failings in the handling of accusations of sexual abuse
of children and young people by clerics in the Diocese of Cloyne.
The Holy
See wishes to state at the outset its profound abhorrence for the crimes of sexual
abuse which took place in that Diocese and is sorry and ashamedfor the terrible
sufferings which the victims of abuse and their families have had to endurewithin
the Church of Jesus Christ, a place where this should never happen. It is very concerned
at the findings of the Commission concerning grave failures in the ecclesiastical
governance of the Diocese and the mishandling of allegations of abuse. It is particularly
disturbing that these failures occurred despite the undertaking given by the Bishops
and Religious Superiors to apply the guidelines developed by the Church in Ireland
to help ensure child protection and despite the Holy See’s norms and procedures relating
to cases of sexual abuse. However, the approach taken by the Church in Ireland in
recent times to the problem of child sexual abuse is benefitting from ongoing experience
and proving more and more effective in preventing the recurrence of these crimes and
in dealing with cases as they arise.
2. Issues raised by the Cloyne
Report
The Holy See’s Response addresses in detail the various
charges made against it, which seem to be based primarily on the Cloyne Report’s
account andassessment of the letter addressed to the Irish Bishops on 31 January
1997 by the then Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Luciano Storero, concerning the response
of the Congregation for the Clergy to the document Child Sexual Abuse: Framework
for a Church Response (the Framework Document). The Commission of Inquiry
asserts that this response gave comfort to those who dissented from the stated official
Church policy and was unsupportive especially in relation to reporting to the civil
authorities.
The Holy See wishes to state the following in relation to the
response of the Congregation for the Clergy:
The Congregation
described the Framework Document as a “study document” on the basis
of information provided by the Irish Bishops, who described the text not as an official
document of the Irish Bishops’ Conference, but, rather, as a “report” of the
Irish Catholic Bishops’ Advisory Committee on Child Sexual Abuse by Priests and Religious,
recommended “to individual dioceses and congregations as a framework for addressing
the issue of child sexual abuse.”
The Irish Bishops
never sought the recognitio of the Holy See for the Framework Document,
which, in accordance with canon 455 of the Code of Canon Law, would have been required
only if they intended it to be a general decree of the Conference binding on all its
members. However, the lack of recognitio itself did not preclude the application
of the document’s guidelines, since individual Bishops could adopt them without having
to refer to the Holy See. This is, in fact, what generally happened in Ireland.
The Irish Bishops consulted the Congregation to resolve difficulties relating
to some of the content of the Framework Document. The Congregation offered
advice to the Bishops with a view to ensuring that the measures which they intended
to apply would prove effective and unproblematic from a canonical perspective. For
this reason, the Congregation drew attention to the requirement that these measures
should be in harmony with canonical procedures in order to avoid conflicts that could
give rise to successful appeals in Church tribunals. The Congregation did not reject
the Framework Document. Rather, it wanted to ensure that the measures contained
in the Framework Document would not undermine the Bishops’ efforts to discipline
those guilty of child abuse in the Church. At the same time, it is important to bear
in mind the decision of the Holy See in 1994 to grant special provisions to the Bishops
of the United States to deal with child sexual abuse in the Church. These provisions
were extended to the Bishops of Ireland in 1996 to assist them to overcome difficulties
that they were experiencing at that time (cf. Part Six of the Response).
Meeting canonical requirements to ensure the correct administration of
justice within the Church in no way precluded cooperation with the civil authorities.
The Congregation for the Clergy did express reservations about mandatory reporting,
but it did not forbid the Irish Bishops from reporting accusations of child sexual
abuse nor did it encourage them to flout Irish law. In this regard, the then Prefect
of the Congregation, Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, in his meeting with the Irish
Bishops at Rosses Point, County Sligo (Ireland), on 12 November 1998 unequivocally
stated: “I also wish to say with great clarity that the Church, especially through
its Pastors (Bishops), should not in any way put an obstacle in the legitimate path
of civil justice, when such is initiated by those who have such rights, while at the
same time, she should move forward with her own canonical procedures, in truth, justice
and charity towards all.” It should be noted that, at the time, not only the Church
but also the Irish State was engaged in efforts to improve its own legislation on
child sexual abuse. To this end, the Irish Government organized an extensive consultation
on mandatory reporting in 1996 and, after taking into account the reservations expressed
by various professional groups and individuals in civil society – views broadly in
line with those expressed by the Congregation – it decided not to introduce mandatory
reporting into the Irish legal system. Given that the Irish Government of the day
decided not to legislate on the matter, it is difficult to see how Archbishop Storero’s
letter to the Irish Bishops, which was issued subsequently, could possibly be construed
as having somehow subverted Irish law or undermined the Irish State in its efforts
to deal with the problem in question.
3. Issues raised by Irish
political leaders
The Holy See wishes to state the following in relation
to some of the reactions of Irish political leaders:
While
the Holy See understands and shares the depth of public anger and frustration at the
findings of the Cloyne Report, which found expression in the speech made by
the Taoiseach, Mr Enda Kenny, in Dáil Éireann on 20 July 2011, it has
significant reservations about some aspects of the speech. In particular, the accusation
that the Holy See attempted “to frustrate an Inquiry in a sovereign, democratic
republic as little as three years ago, not three decades ago” is unfounded. Indeed,
when asked, a Government spokesperson clarified that Mr Kenny was not referring to
any specific incident.
In fact, accusations of interference by the Holy
See are belied by the many Reports cited as the basis for such criticisms. Those Reports
– lauded for their exhaustive investigation of sexual abuse and the way it was managed
– contain no evidence that the Holy See meddled in the internal affairs of the Irish
State or was involved in the day-to-day management of Irish dioceses or religious
congregations with respect to sexual abuse issues. Indeed, what is impressive about
these Reports, and the vast information that they rely upon, is that there is no support
for these accusations.
In this regard, the Holy See wishes to make it quite
clear that it in no way hampered or sought to interfere in any inquiry into cases
of child sexual abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne. Furthermore, at no stage did the Holy
See seek to interfere with Irish civil law or impede the civil authority in the exercise
of its duties.
The Holy See would also point out that the
text of the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger quoted by Mr Kenny in his speech is taken
from No. 39 of the Instruction on the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian,
published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on 24 May 1990. This text
is concerned neither with the manner in which the Church should behave within a democratic
society nor with issues of child protection, as Mr Kenny’s use of the quotation would
seem to imply, but with the theologian’s service to the Church community.
In his meeting with the Apostolic Nuncio, the Tánaiste and Minister
for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Eamon Gilmore, stated that “among the most disturbing
of the findings of the Cloyne report is that the Vatican authorities undermined the
Irish Church’s own efforts to deal with clerical child sexual abuse by describing
the framework document adopted by the Bishops’ Conference as a mere ‘study document’.”
As is made clear in the Holy See’s Response this description was based on the explanations
of its nature as provided by the Irish Bishops and in the published text itself. In
no way was it a dismissal of the serious efforts undertaken by the Irish Bishops to
address the scourge of child sexual abuse.
With regard
to the motion passed in Dáil Éireann on 20 July 2011, and by Seanad Éireann
a week later, deploring “the Vatican’s intervention which contributed to the undermining
of the child protection framework and guidelines of the Irish State and the Irish
Bishops” the Holy See wishes to clarify that at no stage did it make any comment
about the Irish State’s child protection measures, let alone seek to undermine them.
The Holy See observes that there is no evidence cited anywhere in the Cloyne Report
to support the claim that its supposed “intervention” contributed to their
“undermining”. As for those of the Irish Bishops, the Response offers sufficient
clarifications to show that these were in noway undermined by any intervention
of the Holy See.
4. Concluding remarks
In its Response,
the Holy See offers a presentation of the Church’s approach to child protection, including
the relevant canonical legislation, and refers to the Holy Father’s Letter to the
Catholics of Ireland, published on 19 March 2010, in which Pope Benedict indicates
his expectation that the Irish Bishops will cooperate with the civil authorities,
to implement fully the norms of canon law and to ensure the full and impartial application
of the child safety norms of the Church in Ireland.
The publication of the
Cloyne Report marks a further stage in the long and difficult path of ascertaining
the truth, of penance and purification, and of healing and renewal of the Church in
Ireland. The Holy See does not consider itself extraneous to this process but shares
in it in a spirit of solidarity and commitment.
In a spirit of humility, the
Holy See, while rejecting unfounded accusations, welcomes all objective and helpful
observations and suggestions to combat with determination the appalling crime of sexual
abuse of minors. The Holy See wishes to state once again that it shares the deep concern
and anxiety expressed by the Irish authorities, by Irish citizens in general and by
the Bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful of Ireland with regard to the criminal
and sinful acts of sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy and religious. It also recognizes
the understandable anger, disappointment and sense of betrayal of those affected –
particularly the victims and their families – by these vile and deplorable acts and
by the way in which they were sometimes handled by Church authorities, and for all
of this it wishes to reiterate its sorrow for what happened. It is confident that
the measures which the Church has introduced in recent years at a universal level,
as well as in Ireland, will prove more effective in preventing the recurrence of these
acts and contribute to the healing of those who suffered abuse and to the restoration
of mutual confidence and collaboration between Church and State authorities, which
is essential for the effective combating of the scourge of abuse. Naturally, the Holy
See is well aware that the painful situation to which the episodes of abuse have given
rise cannot be resolved swiftly or easily, and that although much progress has been
made, much remains to be done.
Since the early days of the Irish State and
especially since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1929, the Holy See has
always respected Ireland’s sovereignty, has maintained cordial and friendly relations
with the country and its authorities, has frequently expressed its admiration for
the exceptional contribution of Irish men and women to the Church’s mission and to
the betterment of peoples throughout the world, and has been unfailing in its support
of all efforts to promote peace on the island during the recent troubled decades.
Consistent with this attitude, the Holy See wishes to reaffirm its commitment to constructive
dialogue and cooperation with the Irish Government, naturally on the basis of mutual
respect, so that all institutions, whether public or private, religious or secular,
may work together to ensure that the Church and, indeed, society in general will always
be safe for children and young people.