Shaking off the Shackles of Rome
An official investigation has taken place into how allegations of child sexual abuse by priests in the Diocese of Cloyne, in County Cork, were handled by religious and civil authorities. Following the release of the Report, there was a debate in the Irish Parliament at the end of July in which the Irish Prime Minister, Enda Kenny, condemned the Vatican for its part in covering up the allegations. Most of the allegations made in 1996-2009, the Report says, were not passed on to the police, as required by the guidelines agreed by the bishops of Ireland in 1996. This non-compliance was the result of a letter from the Vatican to the Irish bishops, warning them that the guidelines violated church law and were to be treated as a study document only.
The Irish parliament therefore unanimously deplored “the Vatican’s intervention, which contributed to the undermining of child protection frameworks and guidelines of the Irish state and the Irish bishops”. Prime Minister Kenny stated, “For the first time in Ireland, a report into child sexual abuse exposes an attempt by the Holy See to frustrate an Inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic”.
Is Ireland shaking off the shackles of Rome? A Dublin professor of modern Irish history condemned the arrogance of the Vatican, saying, “They were actually treating the sovereign government of Ireland with complete contempt. . . . We’re fed up with hearing about canon law. This is a republic, it’s about civil law.” Time magazine considers that the relationship between Ireland and Rome is at a historic low, and adds, “No matter what response the Church gives to the child-abuse report, one thing is clear: the days of the Vatican’s undue influence over the Irish are over”. The New York Times says, “It is stirring to watch people who have long been cowed finally speaking up, shedding their fear of the authoritarian men at the top who owed their power to the awe of the people”.
If indeed Ireland is struggling free from papal control, it needs to have, as much as it ever did, the superior liberty of the gospel. There can be no true freedom, either personal or national, if it be not based on the truth. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn 8:32). May that day speedily come for Ireland and all other nations duped and domineered by papal Rome.
NMR