Flashback:
– Vatican Warned Irish Bishops Not to Report Child Abuse (AP)
– Ireland Faces Down Vatican as Kenny Demands $1 Billion Abuse Compensation (Bloomberg, Aug 15, 2011):
Ireland is squeezing the Roman Catholic Church to hand over cash and real estate toward a 1.4 billion-euro ($2 billion) child-abuse bill amid the bitterest stand-off yet seen between the Vatican and the government.
In the sharpest language an Irish leader has ever used against the church, Prime Minister Enda Kenny said last month the Vatican’s handling of the scandals has been dominated by “elitism and narcissism.”
“The relationship between the state and the Vatican has never been worse,” David Quinn, a religious commentator who is also director of the Dublin-based Iona Institute, which promotes religion in society, said in an interview. “I struggle to think of a stronger attack by a Western European leader on the church than Enda Kenny’s.”
Kenny said the church needs to be “truly and deeply penitent for the horrors it perpetrated, hid and denied” after three government reports on clerical abuse and cover-ups rocked one of Europe’s most devout societies. With the focus now moving to who compensates the victims in talks starting next month, the church’s riches and dominance of Ireland’s educational system face their most direct threat in the country’s modern history.
“The speech was a seminal moment in that Enda Kenny made clear that the state sees local bishops as the Vatican’s foot soldiers, but it’s the Vatican that is directing policy and practice,” Tom Inglis, a sociology professor at University College Dublin, said in an interview. “He’s following public opinion, not molding it, but it takes an adroit politician to know when the timing is right.”
Compensation MeetingsKenny’s education minister, Ruairi Quinn, will begin meetings in September with 18 religious orders to call on them to pay half the compensation bill for abuse in children’s homes they ran. The 2009 government-commissioned Ryan Report said abuse in those homes was “endemic.”
The orders have paid or offered about 300 million euros to date in cash and real estate, and Quinn is proposing that they hand over control of more land, including schools. About 90 percent of elementary schools remain Catholic-run, according to the Education Ministry.
“Quinn knows that control of the education system is key now and control is about both land and patronage,” said Inglis. “He’s now making the running, not the church.”
Constitutional RoleFor much of Ireland’s history since independence from Britain in 1922, it was the other way around. In 1937, the government consulted the archbishop of Dublin while drafting the constitution, which recognized the special position of the Catholic Church “as the guardian of the faith of the great majority of the people.”
Though that clause was later removed, Catholic thinking continued to underpin Irish legislation. Up to 1985, condoms couldn’t be bought without a doctor’s prescription. Divorce was only legalized after a 1995 popular vote, and abortion still isn’t allowed in most circumstances.
As revelations of abuse and the church’s concealment of it have emerged, the relationship has soured. Last month, a government-commissioned probe into the handling of abuse allegations in Cloyne in southern Ireland concluded that the Vatican “effectively gave Irish bishops freedom to ignore” state guidelines, prompting Kenny’s intervention.
Prosecution HaltedThe report examined the handling of allegations against 19 clerics between 1996 and 2009. To date, one priest from the diocese has been convicted of child sex abuse, while a second prosecution was halted on the grounds of ill health, delay and age.
“The rape and torture of children were downplayed or managed, to uphold instead the primacy of the institution, its power, standing and reputation,” Kenny said in parliament on July 20.
The Vatican pledged to respond “expediently” to the report in an e-mail sent by a spokesman, Federico Lombardi, the day after Kenny’s remarks. Four days later, the Vatican recalled its ambassador to Dublin citing the “reactions” that followed the Cloyne report, in what David Quinn said he interpreted “as a pretty strong protest.”
Eighty-five percent of the Irish population are nominally Catholic, according to the Central Statistics Office. Mass attendance was around 78 percent in 1992, falling to about 65 percent in 1997, according to Diarmaid Ferriter, author of “The Transformation of Ireland: 1900-2000.” A poll conducted for the Iona Institute in 2009 found that 65 percent go to church at least once a month.
Payments to VictimsThe government has made about 14,000 payouts averaging 62,878 euros to victims of abuse in residential homes, according to the agency which handles the awards. A further 157 million euros have been paid been out in legal fees.
In 2002, the government agreed to cap the religious orders’ contribution at 128 million euros. Now, with the bill rising and a budget deficit forecast at 10 percent of gross domestic product this year, ministers are pushing for a 50-50 contribution, amounting to about 680 million euros. The shortfall on what’s been offered so far is about 350 million euros.
Already, some orders are resisting. The Sisters of Mercy, which controls schools across the country, refused to attend a meeting with Quinn last month. The order, which said it had been “misrepresented and demonized,” said it never agreed to the 50-50 split.
“It has been wrongly suggested that the congregation has disadvantaged the state in that it has failed to honor a debt,” the Sisters said in a statement on July 22. “The congregation has met and will continue to meet all of its commitments to former residents and to the state.”
The order may be fighting against the weight of public opinion.
“I’m disappointed with the Vatican’s handling of it,” said Anne McCarron, 71, a retired nurse from Inishowen in northwest Ireland. “The Vatican has been too aloof, I share Enda Kenny’s anger. The church should pay more money to victims.”
Related articles – “By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them!”:
…and by their signs:
Satanists love pedophiles and child porn
Picture from the Satanic Bible
This is a handsign of the devil worshippers (goat horns).
Horned Hand or The Mano Cornuto: this gesture is the Satanic salute, a sign of recognition between and allegiance of members of Satanism or other unholy groups.
– Belgian Catholic Church Child-Sex Abuse Victims Sue Holy See (Sydney Morning Herald/AFP)
– Pedophile and Drug Scandal Case Hits Archdiocese of Pope’s Pedophilia Adviser (TIME)
– Dutch Priest Belonged To Paedophile Club (AP)
– Vatican Warned Irish Bishops Not to Report Child Abuse (AP)
– Pope Benedict’s Child Porn ‘Normal’ Claim Sparks Outrage Among Victims (Belfast Telegraph)
– Exorcists Wanted: Apply to Catholic Church (Reuters)
– UK Paedophile Priests Remain In The Priesthood (Guardian)
– Catholics, It’s You This Freemason-Satanist Pope Has Abused (Independent)
– Vatican rejects resignations of Irish bishops over child sex abuse scandal (Telegraph)
– Vatican Embarrassed By Gay Priests Revelations: Panorama Magazine Exposes Priests Visiting Gay Clubs And Bars And Having Sex (Guardian)
– Catholic Priest Stole $1.3 Million From Church To Pay For Male Escorts, Designer Clothes And Luxury Hotels (Independent)
– And Now Financial Scandals: The Hidden Wealth Of The Catholic Church (Spiegel)
– The Intelligence² Debate – Stephen Fry: ‘The Catholic Church is Not a Force For Good in the World’
– Archbishop of Vienna accuses one of Pope Benedict XVI’s closest aides of sex abuse cover-up (Times)
– Pope Benedict XVI accepts resignation of his close friend Bishop Walter Mixa in sex probe (Reuters)
– Belgium: Top Catholic Bishop Resigns Over Child Sexual Abuse (Times)
– Database of Catholic Priests Publicly Accused of Sexual Abuse in the US (BishopAccountability.org)
– Illinois man is suing the Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI for covering up sexual abuse (CNN)
– Priest Says He Was Bullied Into Taking Fall For Pope Benedict XVI In Abuse Scandal (The Local)
– Catholic Church is ‘like the Mafia’ (The Telegraph)
– Cardinal Praised Bishop’s Silence Over Paedophile Priest (BBC NEWS)
– Catholic Priest Accused of Child Porn Possession (AP)
– Belgian Bishops Failed To Punish Over 300 Paedophilia Complaints (AFP)
– Connecticut Catholic Bishops Fight Sex Abuse Bill (CNN)
– Richard Dawkins plans to arrest Pope Benedict XVI during his state visit to Britain ‘for crimes against humanity’ (Times)
– Catholic Priest Raped Teenage Boy At Gunpoint (My San Antonio)
– Norway Catholic Church Computer Server Crashed By Flood Of Pedophile Priests Abuse Claims (AFP)
– Pope John Paul II Blocked Inquiry of Paedophile Cardinal Friend Who Abused 2,000 boys (Times)
– Ireland Archbishop Stunned by Archbishop of Canterbury’s Criticism of Catholic Church (Times)
– Pope Benedict XVI’s personal preacher: Abuse critique like anti-Semitism (AP)
– ABC Nightline: What the Pope Knew About Father Maciel (ABC NEWS)
– Pope Benedict Appointed Bishop Accused of Ritually Beating Orphaned Children (The Raw Story)
– 40% of Americans view Pope Benedict XVI favorably (Gallup)
– 1963 letter indicates former pope knew of abuse (AP)
– Germany’s Catholic Church sexual abuse hotline received 1,000 calls the first day (Digital Journal)
– Austrian Catholic Church Abuse Hot Lines Log 566 Reports This Year (Austrian Independent)
– Australian Bishop says ‘vast amount’ of sexual abuse cases yet to emerge (Sydney Morning Herald)
– Deaf Boys Tried to Tell of Priest’s Abuse FOR YEARS (New York Times)
– Christopher Hitchens Slams Vatican, Pope Over Sex Abuse Scandal (Huffington Post)
– The Pope Is Not Above the Law (Slate)
– Sex Abuse Victims to Sue Vatican (Times)
– Pope Benedict Signals Won’t Be Intimidated By Abuse Critics, Uses Popemobile For First Time On A Palm Sunday (New York Times/AFP)
– Vatican knew of abuse in Ontario: Victim (Toronto Star)
– A church sex scandal where the truth is crucified (Toronto Star)
– Sinead O’Connor: ‘There Should Be A Full Criminal Investigation Of The Pope’ (LA Times)
– Catholic Church quietly expelling and punishing children, homeless (Irish Central)
– Former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland routinely shredded copies of weekly reports about sexual abuse by priests (Flashback):
Former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland routinely shredded copies of weekly reports about sexual abuse by priests, according to formerly sealed testimony turned over to Milwaukee County’s district attorney on Thursday.
– Swiss Catholic Church Investigating 10 Abuse Cases (Reuters)
– Irish Catholic Church Paid Child Sex Abuse Victim To Keep Quiet (Guardian)
– Catholic Church Child Abuse: Nuns Now Also Accused (Radio Netherlands Worldwide)
– Church: Pope Had Role in Moving Molesting Priest (Bloomberg)
– Pope knew priest was paedophile but allowed him to continue with ministry (Times)
– Pope will struggle to survive abuse scandal (Irish Independent)
– Benedict’s involvement ’shows extent of cover-ups’ (Irish Independent)
– Sinead O’Connor: I’d help Jesus to burn down the Vatican (Irish Independent)
– RIGHTS-GERMANY: ‘Catholic Church Protects Paedophile Priests’ (IPS)
– Child abuse claims sweep Catholic Church in Europe (AP)
Freemason:
Pope Benedict XVI and Tony Blair