PAUL CULLEN and DEAGLÁN de BREADÚN
THE CATHOLIC Church and the State are on a collision course over Government plans to force priests to disclose information on child sexual abuse obtained in the confessional.
The measure, announced in response to the findings of a report on the handling of child abuse complaints in the diocese of Cloyne, is likely to encounter significant resistance within the church.
Under the plans put forward by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter, priests could be jailed for up to five years for failing to disclose information on serious offences against a child even if this was obtained in Confession.
The fallout from the Cloyne report continued yesterday, with the Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore sharply criticising the Vatican for undermining the Irish bishops’ child protection rules.
“The law of the land should not be stopped by a crozier or by a collar,” Mr Kenny said, while Fine Gael chairman Charlie Flanagan and the Socialist Party called for the expulsion of the Vatican’s representative in Ireland, the papal nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza.
Asked for his reaction to the criticisms, the Vatican’s senior spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi declined to comment, saying only: “I have nothing to say until such time as there is a formal Vatican response.”
Church spokesmen said yesterday they wanted to see the text of Mr Shatter’s Bill before making a definitive comment. However, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Armagh Dr Gerard Clifford said the bond of secrecy attached to Confession had to be respected.
A priest would “recommend” anyone admitting to a serious crime in Confession to go to the civil authorities.
A spokesman for the Catholic bishops said the “seal of Confession places an onerous responsibility on the confessor/priest, and a breach of it would be a serious offence to the rights of penitents”. He pointed approvingly to remarks made yesterday by Fr PJ Madden of the Association of Catholic Priests, who said the seal of the Confession was above the law of the land.
Fr Madden said the seal was “above and beyond all else” and could not be broken even if a penitent confessed to a crime.
Dr Clifford said former Bishop of Cloyne John Magee, whose whereabouts are unknown, should make himself available to answer questions about the report.
Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald is due to publish guidance on child protection rules today, along with a HSE plan to implement the rules consistently across the State.
A decision on whether to hold further inquiries into the handling of abuse complaints in other dioceses will be made in the autumn.
Mr Shatter is awaiting the results of two audits of church compliance with child protection procedures, one being carried out by the HSE, the other by the church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children.
The bishops’ spokesman said they would co-operate fully with the civil authorities. The Cloyne report is to be considered by the bishops at their next meeting in September.
The Dáil is set to hold a 2½-hour discussion of it on Wednesday.
Mr Kenny hinted that the Government could close the Irish Embassy to the Holy See in the wake of the report. Asked if the Government might close the Embassy given that it already has an Embassy in Italy, Mr Kenny said the Minister for Foreign Affairs had “adjustments” to make to Irish diplomatic representation.
“I’m quite sure that he will take into account the straitened circumstances of the country and make his decision known to the Government in due course about what adjustments he wishes to make.”
Mr Gilmore told the papal nuncio he wanted a response from the Vatican as to why it had told priests and bishops they could undermine rules laid down by the Irish bishops.
Minister for Children Fitzgerald seems confused as to her role.
She has announced that nobody would be exempt from the reporting of abuse in Ireland even in the confessional. Is this an expansion of her Ministerial portfolio?
Fitzgerald’s portfolio is that of children not law. Law is the realm of the Minister for Justice who was silent on the issue.
The ‘new’ proposal she has released is not new. Fitgerald has reissued the 12 year old Children First proposal from 1999 – it’s 12 years old.
It requires an overhaul of law enforcement (abuse is currently reported to the HSE not the Gardai), social services and judicial system. That, assuming it occurs, will take time, additional manpower and services. She forgets or perhaps is not aware that the basis of the proposal, the changing of the Irish constitution to reflect the important role of children in society, requires a referendum. The Minister is continuing the public deception ‘proposal’ policy – that of appearing to act while in fact doing nothing.
Action is what is required Minister, not proposals.
One law for EVERYONE. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Brilliant. Kudos, Ireland.
There is no question that the Catholic church has been raping children for decades, covering it up, lying about it, and ignoring the victims.
They can’t be trusted to protect society from their own pedophiles, and for a long time, the laws of the land allowed the church to get away with that. The church shamelessly, recklessly, sinfully abused that power – not as individuals, but as a coordinated, organized whole.
That makes them an organized crime empire as much as a religious institution.
They should start losing benefits, like “the loophole of confession” and tax exempt status, since they have long lost respect and trust.
Pedophile priests proved that confession gave them the capability to rape children as long as they ran to confession afterwards. Some in the US in Philadelphia had sex with children in confessional. That’s convenient. If you close that loophole, and the priest knows that he has to confess or go to hell after he rapes a child, he has a big dilemma.
Brilliant solution, Ireland.
Pedophiles – want forgiveness from God? Go to prison on earth. You don’t get the benefit of God’s forgiveness for free. Priests – want to hide your pedophile priest friend? You go to jail.
Enact the law. Let’s hope the US follows suit. The Catholic church concealed child rape for at least 60 years. Let’s let the government shut down the pedophile protection practices. Next up – taxing the church.