In language never before used by an Irish government leader, Enda Kenny yesterday accused the Vatican of downplaying or “managing” the rape and torture of children in order to uphold its own power and reputation.
Speaking in the Dáil in a debate on the Cloyne report, he said it excavated the “dysfunction, disconnection, elitism, the narcissism” dominating the culture of the Vatican to this day.
The Taoiseach’s speech was reported around the world with many media organisations praising Mr Kenny for his criticism of the Catholic Church.
Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, this article consists mainly of the material from Kenny’s speech surrounded with commentary. It doesn’t venture to the material in other articles since published which carefully show certain crucial factual and historical inaccuracies in the speech. A helpful article that draws these together is here:
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2011/07/22/the-taioseach-has-just-got-it-wrong-the-pope-isn’t-the-problem-he-is-a-major-part-of-the-solution/
It took a former Anglican to lay out the contradictions here for readers seeking to be well-informed on this awful situation, though I have read much of this information elsewhere too.
In the end, given his clear mis-use of some quotations, omission of any reference to the particular Irish bishop who has been found in defiance of his own Church, and the apparently deliberate confusion of chronology in the Irish abuse-case developments, one is left wondering if just possibly Kenny and/or his speech-writers might have been, perhaps, wanting to scapegoat someone else, at a time when his own Republic is foundering financially? And at this he seems to have succeeded.
Two other articles written with a view toward setting the record straight (a great American tradition as well!) are here :
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0723/1224301201164.html
http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otn.cfm?id=822
As with that in the above comment, both need to be read calmly with judgement suspended until the end, especially if read following the Kenny speech.