Ex-Irish president: Vatican sought deal to keep church archives closed
Mary McAleese says approach came while inquiries into child abuse involving Catholic church were under way
The Vatican sought a deal with the Irish state in 2003 to keep church archives closed, according to former president Mary McAleese.
The approach from the Vatican came at a time when two statutory inquiries were under way into child abuse involving the Catholic church.
McAleese said the matter was raised with her during a private meeting with a high-ranking Vatican official while she was on a state visit to Italy.
It was “one of the most devastating moments of my presidency”, she told the Irish Times.
According to McAleese’s account, Angelo Sodano, then Vatican secretary of state, “indicated he would like, and the Vatican would like, an agreement with Ireland, a concordat with Ireland”.
She added: “I asked him why and it was very clear that it was because he wanted to protect Vatican and diocesan archives. I have to say that I immediately said the conversation had to stop.
“I told him it was inappropriate and very, very dangerous for the church if it was pursued.”
McAleese was unhappy at the issue being raised with her in private. She asked Monsignor Joe Murphy, who was then Sodano’s secretary and was present at the meeting along with an Irish government official and McAleese’s husband, to explain to the secretary of state that the church in Ireland was “on the back foot”, and that if the matter was pursued it would be “flat on its back”.
“So the matter was dropped there and I never heard any mention of it again,” McAleese said.
At the time, the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was investigating the treatment of children in institutions run by religious orders, while a separate statutory inquiry was investigating clerical sexual abuse in Ferns diocese.
McAleese claimed that Sodano was asking for an agreement under which the Irish state would have no access to church documents.
The Vatican has been contacted for comment on McAleese’s claims.
Child abuse was endemic in institutions run by the church and its affiliates for decades. When evidence of it began to emerge in the 1990s, the church sought to cover up the scale of the scandal. The church’s complicity in the abuse of children is a major reason for its diminished moral authority in Ireland.
Pope Francis is under pressure to meet survivors of abuse and address the issue when he makes a brief visit to Ireland later this month. John Paul II was Pope at the time of the mooted deal outlined by McAleese.
McAleese has clashed with the Catholic church this year on LGBT issues and the role of women. This week she said the church’s teaching on homosexuality was “evil” and she hoped the pope would change it.
In March, she said the church was an “empire of misogyny” and lacked strong role models for women. Her comments came after the Vatican refused to accredit her for a conference marking International Women’s Day.
 |
| KLIK |
Dermot Ahern says Cardinal Sodano ‘was quite blunt’
Former minister for foreign affairs Dermot Ahern says a senior Vaticanofficial sought an agreement in 2004 under which Ireland would indemnify the Catholic Church against legal actions for compensation by clerical child sexual-abuse survivors.
“No one forewarned me. I was completely taken aback,” Mr Ahern said of the approach by Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
Revealing details of the meeting for the first time, the former minister told The Irish Times: “The cardinal had just come off a plane from the US where he had successfully concluded claims. It was a very direct question. He wanted to know whether the Irish government would indemnify the Vatican against any similar claims in Ireland. He was as blunt as that.”
Mr Ahern told him that “on no account could I give such an undertaking and that it was a matter that would have to be decided by the government anyhow. I was very annoyed.”
Financial implications
The cardinal referred to the Irish State’s heavy involvement in education as possible grounds for such an indemnity where the church was concerned. “He referred to the US cases and the potential serious financial implications [for the church] in Ireland,” said Mr Ahern.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten