Papal Nuncio Giuseppe Leanza is being called back to Rome for consultations over the Cloyne Report, published earlier this month.
IRISH TIMES REPORTERS
The Vatican has recalled its envoy to Ireland following Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s trenchant criticism of the Holy See’s role in covering up cases of clerical child sex abuse.
Deputy Vatican spokesman Father Ciro Benedettini said Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, the Apostolic Nuncio of Ireland, had been recalled from Dublin for consultations in the wake of the Cloyne report.
The office of the papal nunciature in Dublin could not be contacted for comment.
In language never used by an Irish leader, Mr Kenny last week accused the Vatican of downplaying the rape and torture of children in order to uphold its own power and reputation.
At the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal, last night, Mr Kenny said he had received “thousands” of messages from around the world in response to his speech.
This reflected the way people felt about this issue, he said. Mr Kenny added he was “astounded” by the number of clergy who had been in touch to say it was “about time” someone in his position spoke out.
The Taoiseach received a standing ovation when he finished delivering the annual lecture in honour of Nobel laureate and former SDLP leader John Hume at the opening session of the summer School.
Referring to his Dáil speech last Wednesday on the Cloyne report, he said: “I made a few remarks this week about children, which means a lot to me, I have to say.
“I just wanted people to understand that, when I say we live in a republic with laws and responsibilities and rights, I mean it.
“The fact that I have had thousands of messages from around the world speaks for itself about the impact and the way people feel.
“The numbers of members of the clergy who have been in touch in the last few days, to say it is about time somebody spoke out about these matters in a situation like you are, has astounded me,” Mr Kenny said.
“I haven’t made any other comment except to say that we await the response from the Vatican.
“I like to think that part of what we do in Government is to create the environment where the innocence of children can develop naturally through their formative years,” Mr Kenny said.
He said this was in the hope, “that when they grow up and grow old they will look back with a sense of pride and a sense of respect for where they came from”.
The pope should be at least on the phone with mr kenny in order to explain why his reaction to all this is another secret meeting of church leaders behind closed doors. thay have broken thier word over and over again. all abuse nowadays caused by priests is with the complicity of the pope himself.any more second chances is sheer folly.
How far away now is a declaration of war? Already I hear rumours that the Swiss Guards are pouring over maps of Ireland for entry points! Some wag in the Curia has suggested Cobh as an entry point – “It’s in the Cloyne Diocese, I think” said the American Curia bishop without any irony! Will having statues of the virgin Mary prominently displayed in your window prevent damage in case a papal tomahawk is let loose on us?
Paddy, they have only called him for consultations.
This means he will be reprogrammed on how to deal with the Irish in a different way. Servants of molach do not give up that easy.