Here are two recent stories about the Catholic sex abuse scandal as it continues to unfold in Ireland:

Vatican ‘Snubbed Ireland Church Abuse Inquiry’ (The BBC; Nov 27)

The inquiry into sex abuse by Catholic priests in Ireland has disclosed that the Vatican ignored formal requests for information.

The inquiry asked for details of reports on abuse sent to the Vatican by the Dublin archdiocese in 2006.

The Vatican did not reply but told the Irish Foreign Affairs department the request “had not gone through appropriate diplomatic channels”.

The inquiry condemned church leaders for covering-up abuse for decades.

The Report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, which was published on Thursday, covered a period from 1975 to 2004.

The commission said it was independent of the government and therefore did not regard it as appropriate to use diplomatic channels when seeking information.

A request for information from the Papal Nuncio also was ignored.

In February 2007, the commission wrote to the Dublin-based Papal Nuncio asking him to forward all relevant documents in his possession.

It also requested that he confirm whether he had any such documents but the Papal Nuncio did not reply.

Earlier this year, the commission again failed to receive a reply after sending the Papal Nuncio extracts from its draft report which referred to him and his office, as it was required to do.

The Vatican told The Irish Times it “was a matter for the local church involved”.

A senior Vatican spokesman said diplomatic practice required that outside requests made to the governance of the Vatican pass through diplomatic channels, in this case the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin and the Irish Embassy to the Holy See in Rome….

The report also found that on occasions senior police officers colluded in the cover-up.

The commissioner of the Irish police, Fachtna Murphy, apologised for the police failure to protect victims.

Victims groups are now calling for a similar inquiry to take place in every diocese in Ireland.

However, the Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin Eamonn Walsh has said he does not believe that should happen.

He said it would be better for the Church to use its “time, energy and money” to improve child protection measures.

Irish Victims Of Child Abuse Angry At Vatican Response (EarthTimes/DPA; Dec 15)

DUBLIN: Pope Benedict’s “distress” at a report highly critical of the Irish Catholic Church’s handling of cases involving child sex abuse by priests was met with scepticism from victims of abuse in Ireland. The survivors support group One in Four has described the Papal response as “disingenuous and inadequate.”

The Pope’s statement last Friday followed talks between the pontiff and top Irish clerics summoned to Rome to discuss the scandal over how child sexual abuse complaints were dealt with by the authorities from 1975 to 2004.

“The Holy Father shares the outrage, betrayal and shame felt by so many of the faithful in Ireland, and he is united with them in prayer at this difficult time in the life of the Church,” the statement said.

The Irish Commission of Investigation’s report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, released in November and known as the Murphy report, looked at how child sexual abuse complaints were dealt with by the authorities from 1975 to 2004.

The report details the abuse perpetrated by priests against more than 300 victims and says there is no doubt that clerical child abuse was covered up by the Archdiocese of Dublin and other church authorities.

Although five bishops were named, the Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray was singled out for criticism for his “inexcusable” handling of a child abuse case.

Maeve Lewis, Chief Executive of One in Four, said that an apology for the Catholic Church’s culture of secrecy and cover-up was required.

“To say that he (the Pope) is disturbed and outraged by the accounts of clerical abuse is disingenuous at the very least, given that the files of the clerical sex abusers have been routinely sent to the Vatican over the years,” she told the Irish Independent newspaper.

“He must have been aware of the extent of the problem when, as Cardinal Ratzinger, he presided over the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith,” she said.

The pontiff’s role in policing procedures for dealing with child abuse was well-documented in the BBC Panorama documentary Sex Crimes and The Vatican in 2006.

The documentary presented by child abuse survivor and Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland revealed how the then Cardinal Ratzinger wrote to Catholic bishops in 2001 to remind them of the penalties for leaking details of inquiries into offences such as clerical sex abuse

The then cardinal issued a secret Vatican edict to Catholic bishops all over the world, instructing them to put the Church’s interests ahead of child safety, the BBC reported.

The document recommended that rather than reporting sexual abuse to the relevant legal authorities, bishops should encourage the victim, witnesses and perpetrator not to talk about it.

To keep victims quiet, it threatened that if they repeated the allegations they would be excommunicate, the report said.

Cardinal Ratzinger reinforced the strict cover-up policy by introducing the principle that the Vatican must have what it calls exclusive competence.

This meant that all child abuse allegations should be dealt with directly by Rome, Panorama reported.

Another survivor, Andrew Madden, has said that Benedict’s statement meant nothing.

“What I’m expecting is for five bishops to resign, and whether I hear it from the Vatican or Twitter I don’t care,” he said.

“That would be the appropriate response from the Church. Words and prayers and offers to pray for the victims are just meaningless drivel,” he said. “Most victims say that the five bishops that are still in place and who were in place at the time of the abuse should resign,” Madden said.

Mervyn Rundle was abused by Father Thomas Naughton. The Murphy report branded Bishop Murray’s failure to properly investigate Naughton following complaints as “inexcusable”.

Bishop Murray’s resignation was expected after he went to Rome to meet with the pontiff on December 7, but he is reported to be still battling to hold on to his position.

Rundle is now tired of waiting for the “appropriate” response.

“They have riled me up so much that I can safely say I’m taking it further, taking it to the criminal end of things,” he told the Irish Independent.

“I’m pushing the garda (Irish police) now to get a criminal case, and if I don’t get any satisfaction from that I’m going to the European courts.”

The legal offence under which clerical abuse victims could bring such a case has been abolished and replaced by a stronger “reckless endangerment” charge introduced in 2006.

But that charge could not be levelled retrospectively against authority figures in the Catholic Church, Irish media reported.

For much more on the situation in Ireland, see the entry I posted on Dec 1.