Vatican Radio: Comments of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Dublin, on the Holy Sees's response Cloyne Report

“Wherever we go from here we have to go together”, says Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin speaking to Vatican Radio, Saturday, following the publication of the Holy See’s response to the Irish Government regarding the Cloyne report.

“The climate of tension and polemics doesn’t help”, he adds, “but we also have to go forward following the truth, making sure that what is said is true. That we go forward with a policy of transparency and honesty in this and that any attempts to go back into a cover up mode or mentality will only damage not just the Church itself, but it will damage children. One of the things we have to remember is that Jesus identified children as a sign of the kingdom and we have to learn again what that was saying to us and how becoming like children, safeguarding and cherishing children is actually part of the way Christians live and should live”.

Regarding the specifics of the Vatican response, the Archbishop notes: “One of the things that struck me when I read the section about the development of the policies of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith over the past ten years, is that over 20 times it stresses the need for the Church to respect national laws on the reporting of the abuse cases, and that’s a very, very strong affirmation of the position of the Congregation and of the Catholic Church”.

Archbishop Martin notes that the distinct roles of Church and State in safeguarding children is another essential element : “This brings us back to a central point which is implicit in the Cloyne Reports phrase “if fully implemented”: even the best norms in the world must be accompanied by an on-going process of independent monitoring and reviewing of day-to-day practice. Within the Catholic Church this is being undertaken by the National Board for the Safeguarding of Children. Its reviews are underway and will be published. The primary responsibility for monitoring child safeguarding measures in any dimension of Irish society belongs – I repeat – with the State”.

In a statement released Saturday the Primate of Ireland also stated: “One of the key points of the Taoiseach’s [Prime Minister] intervention was the assertion that “the Holy See attempted to frustrate an enquiry in a sovereign democratic republic as little as three years ago not three decades ago”. There is no evidence presented in the Murphy Report to substantiate this, the Holy See could find no evidence and the Department of An Taoiseach’s office said that the Taoiseach was not referring to any specific event. This merits explanation”. Listen to his full interview with Emer McCarthy here.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin