Catholic haters have jumped the gun on this one. Again, the world's media falsely accuses the Vatican of a sexual abuse cover-up with yet another newly discovered document that is inflated to mean more than it actually does.
That's from an AP article on the front page of today World section in the Dominion Post.
So, what is wrong with this picture?
In other words, the Irish Bishops are being warned that mandatory reporting is not a good idea. Mandatory reporting, of the type where there only has to be an accusation made of abuse and it must be reported to the police. Mandatory where the victim doesn't want to go to the police, no that would not matter, any crime of a sexual nature would be automatically reported to the police. Proof would not matter, credibility would not matter, the wishes of the victim would not matter - all that would matter is that the Bishops would be seen to be tough on sex abuse.
That's what is wrong with the picture.
The late Archbishop Luciano Storero never says to not report credible sexual abuse crimes to the police, all he warns against is the mandatory reporting policy the Irish Bishops were thinking of implementing.
This does not show that the Vatican enforced a worldwide culture of coverup as the article states. The only people making such a leap are those that already believe this and no evidence to the contrary is good enough for them.
The only story here is that no matter how small the pretext, the worldwide media, New Zealand's included, is ever ready to accuse the Vatican, Catholicism, the Popes and even every day Catholics of the most heinous crimes without any evidence. I suppose we can be relieved for now, that unlike the Muslims, they are not calling for our blood, yet.
Read More : Vatican warned Bishops not to report child abuse! ~ National Catholic Register, Jimmy Akin
A newly revealed 1997 letter from the Vatican warned Ireland's Catholic Bishops not to report all suspected child-abuse cases to police - a disclosure that victims' groups described as "the smoking gun" needed to show that the Vatican enforced a worldwide coverup.
That's from an AP article on the front page of today World section in the Dominion Post.
So, what is wrong with this picture?
Signed by the late Archbishop Luciano Storero, Pope John Paul II's diplomat to Ireland, the letter instructs Irish Bishops that their new policy of making the reporting of suspected crimes mandatory "gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and canonical nature."
In other words, the Irish Bishops are being warned that mandatory reporting is not a good idea. Mandatory reporting, of the type where there only has to be an accusation made of abuse and it must be reported to the police. Mandatory where the victim doesn't want to go to the police, no that would not matter, any crime of a sexual nature would be automatically reported to the police. Proof would not matter, credibility would not matter, the wishes of the victim would not matter - all that would matter is that the Bishops would be seen to be tough on sex abuse.
That's what is wrong with the picture.
The late Archbishop Luciano Storero never says to not report credible sexual abuse crimes to the police, all he warns against is the mandatory reporting policy the Irish Bishops were thinking of implementing.
This does not show that the Vatican enforced a worldwide culture of coverup as the article states. The only people making such a leap are those that already believe this and no evidence to the contrary is good enough for them.
The only story here is that no matter how small the pretext, the worldwide media, New Zealand's included, is ever ready to accuse the Vatican, Catholicism, the Popes and even every day Catholics of the most heinous crimes without any evidence. I suppose we can be relieved for now, that unlike the Muslims, they are not calling for our blood, yet.
Read More : Vatican warned Bishops not to report child abuse! ~ National Catholic Register, Jimmy Akin