Sir, – Many commentators claim the abuse of children and vulnerable adults in the past was as much the responsibility of the State as it was of the churches that managed the various institutions. Thus Dermot Keogh (Opinion, September 6th) writes: “There were many so-called bystanders when crimes were committed against the weakest and most vulnerable”.
It’s not that simple. Because the professions and the wide section of society mentioned by Dr Keogh, including, most notably, the political establishment and the civil service, were in thrall to the Catholic hierarchy, to a level that seems incredible today, there was really no distinction to be made between church and State. There were, therefore, very few bystanders, and none with any power.
Now that we seem to have an appreciation for democracy and the rights of the individual, we should reasonably expect a long overdue separation of church as State. In particular, we need to reclaim our national schools so that children can, at the level of State involvement in their education, learn how to think, rather than what to think, and thereby avoid the possibility of them being subjected to the disastrous indoctrination that was the lot of their recent forebears. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I think Eamon Gilmore, while stating that the Vatican’s response is missing the point, is himself missing another important point (Home News, September 6th).
I want Enda Kenny to answer the interference question not because I’m missing the point about the horror of child abuse in the Catholic Church, but because I consider any effort by the Vatican to interfere in this State’s affairs to be a very serious matter.
The fact that the Taoiseach told us such interference had occurred in the past three years simply adds to the gravity of an already serious matter.
Surely as a tax-paying citizen I am entitled to ask the where and when of this particular interference without being told I’m missing the point? – Yours, etc,
A chara, – The Taoiseach, Mr Kenny, claimed that many priests sent him messages of support for his speech in the Dáil denouncing the Vatican on July 20th. I, for one, did not because I did not see that it was anything other than grandstanding.
Mr Kenny was more interested in playing politics with the Cloyne report than in addressing the real issues around the protection of children in Irish society. Mr Kenny took the opportunity to win himself some more popular support and to take the heat off himself over his blatant lies in relation to maintaining services at Roscommon hospital.
The Irish politicians in government and in opposition, including Mr Kenny, are as much to blame for the abuse and neglect of children in the State as is the church. It is easy to blame the church and to focus on the Pope and the Vatican when it suits. It is a very popular thing to do right now. It is necessary to hold the Irish church to account for its historical failings. I think it is important to see these failures in their historical context.
When Ireland was partitioned, the Catholic church took on a hugely influential role in all aspects of life in the south, especially in education and health, and was allowed to do so by the new Free State government. In a sense, the church became an arm of the government and interfered in matters such as the Mother and Child scheme, when it had no business interfering. The Vatican at the time allowed this to happen.
The Vatican encouraged the Irish bishops, since the foundation of the southern state in 1920, to be closely aligned with the State and its agencies. For many centuries, the Vatican had consistently taken the side of the British government and appointed bishops who were politically safe as far as British rule was concerned. Never once did the Vatican challenge the British involvement in Ireland. Throughout the recent long conflict since 1968 the Vatican never once stood up for the oppressed Catholics in the North nor did it ever publicly denounce the actions and policies of the British government. Nor was it ever challenged by any Irish leader to do so.
But times have changed and the church has changed – especially since the Second Vatican Council. The Vatican does not have the temporal power and influence it once had in Ireland or anywhere else.
As Breda O’Brien has pointed out (Opinion, July 23th) the Vatican in recent times has never challenged or attempted to frustrate the laws of the southern State with regard to child protection. To say it did is a complete misrepresentation of the facts. The failures in Cloyne cannot be blamed on the Vatican. All other Irish dioceses had begun to implement the church’s own policy of mandatory reporting to the civil authorities. The work of Ian Elliott and his team is proof of the seriousness with which the Irish church (clergy and laity) is taking the whole issue of child abuse and the protection of children in their care.
What happened in Cloyne is the responsibility of the Bishop and his friend Monsignor Denis O’Callaghan The speech by Enda Kenny in the Dáil on July 20th was grandstanding at its best and is seen as such by all except those with a clear anti-Catholic bias. – Is mise,
A chara, – The Holy See expects “the Irish bishops to co-operate with the civil authorities”.
It does not say“ fully”. The mental reservation is alive and well! – Is mise,
Sir, – In seeking to extricate itself from the cover-up of the rape and sexual torture of children by Catholic priests, the Vatican uses a stream of impressive sounding Latin phrases: " nisi ab Apostolica Sede recognita", " recognitio", " Donum Veritatis", " Magisterium", " Lumen Gentium", " Crimen Sollicitationis", " indults", " Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela", " Normae de gravioribus delictis".
They forgot one: " res ipsa loquitur" – the thing speaks for itself. – Yours, etc,