Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale698

by means of public statements, protests and other such actions, which are

legitimate in modern democracy but unsuited for handing on the truth of

divine revelation, which theologians in their research are called to investigate

and explain.

3. Response to the Tánaiste's accusations and to the Dáil and Seanad motions

In his meeting with the Apostolic Nuncio, the Tánaiste and Minister for

Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Eamon Gilmore, stated that "among the most

disturbing of the findings of the Cloyne report is that the Vatican authorities

undermined the Irish Church's own efforts to deal with clerical child sexual abuse

by describing the framework document adopted by the Bishops' Conference as a

mere 'study document'." As has been made clear above, this charge is not

supported by an objective reading of the Cloyne Report nor by the fact that

the common practice of the Irish Bishops was to apply the Framework Docu-

ment. Furthermore, given that the Church has always insisted on the duty of

all citizens to obey the just laws of the State (cfr. Romans 13: 1-2; Catechism

of the Catholic Church, Nos. 1897-1904; 2238-2243), the Holy See does not

accept the charge that « the Vatican intervened to effectively have priests believe

they could in conscience evade their responsibilities under Irish law."

On 20 July 2011, the Dáil passed a motion on the Cloyne Report which,

among other things, deplored "the Vatican's intervention which contributed to

the undermining of the child protection framework and guidelines of the Irish

State and the Irish Bishops". The same motion was passed by Seanad Éireann

a week later. The Holy See wishes to clarify that at no stage in the past did it

make any comment about the Irish State's child protection framework and

guidelines, let alone seek to undermine them. The Holy See further observes

that there is no evidence cited anywhere to support the claim that its

"intervention" contributed to their "undermining". As for the child protection

framework and guidelines of the Irish Bishops, the observations made above

should suffice to dispel the notion that these were in any way undermined

by any intervention of the Holy See.

4. The nature of the Church and the responsibility of individual Bishops

For a more adequate understanding of some of the points made in this

Response, it should be borne in mind that the social organization of the

Catholic Church, a communion of many particular Churches (i.e. Dioceses