The Vatican has recalled the apostolic nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, for consultations after the release of the Cloyne Report and a scathing denunciation from the Prime Minister of Ireland. Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s scathing denunciation of the Vatican was aimed at the continued obfuscation of the Catholic Church in Ireland with regard to sexual abuse by priests.
Enda said: “Far from listening to evidence of humiliation and betrayal with St Benedict’s ‘ear of the heart,’ the Vatican’s reaction was to parse and analyze it with the gimlet eye of a canon lawyer. This calculated, withering position being the polar opposite of the radicalism, humility and compassion upon which the Roman Church was founded.”
The Irish Prime Minister’s impassioned rebuke is a welcome breath of fresh air from the stench that has wafted from the Tiber and the seat of Peter. No matter if Pope Benedict XVI has met with the abused; the continued, rampant malfeasance of the church with regard to quickly and decisively adjudicating sex abuse cases continues to erode its already waning moral and social authority. The Cloyne Report shows the depth of abuse, and more shockingly, the willingness of dioceses of Cloyne to completely ignore the norms set out in 2001 by the Holy See on abuse, and to, in the words of the Prime Minister, “frustrate an inquiry by a sovereign democratic republic.”
When the Prime Minister of Ireland tears the church a new one, and implicates the Vatican in criminal activity, recalling the Apostolic Nuncio is a petty, inadequate response if it is not followed up with a direct answer for the materials outlined of the church’s failure in the Cloyne Report. In typical fashion, one of the points made by Fr. Ciro Benedettini of the Vatican Press Office shows the ridiculousness of the Vatican culture: “The recalling of the Nuncio, a measure rarely used by the Holy See, denotes the seriousness of the situation, and the desire of the Holy See to deal with it objectivity and with determination, as well as a certain note of surprise and regret regarding some excessive reactions.”
The Vatican and its inhabitants are living in a 15th century fantasy if they do not realize that respect for the institution in Europe and North America is at an all-time low. Prime Minister Enda’s remarks are not excessive; rather, the behavior of the Vatican is excessive in its continued jabs at any criticism of the church, while continuing to persecute the victims of sexual abuse. The institution is on its knees, and will continue to crumble if serious, concerted efforts are not made to stem the moral and financial collapse.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia may be the next Cloyne. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia appointed its new leader last week, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver. The Archbishop, who has presided over the “clean up” of several church scandals, most notably the Legionaries of Christ, will have his hands full with the Philadelphia grand jury reports and the upcoming trials, including that of Monsignor William Lynn, who has two felony charges against him for “purposefully shielding sexually abusive priests.” Philadelphia marks the first time that an administrator of the church has been charged, and the outcome could set a precedent for future cases against the church.
Archbishop Chaput, noted for his political stances, faces a daunting task in cleaning up the Archdiocese and the upcoming trials. Chaput’s moralizing won’t sit well in the northeast, especially in Philadelphia, a Catholic city that is Democratic at its core. The Archbishop has a tendency toward fiery statements, including the comment that U.S. Catholics need to act on their faith and be on guard against “a spirit of adulation bordering on servility” that exists towards the Obama Administration. Rest assured Archbishop Chaput, that those of us who want change the church will not have a spirit of adulation towards your new administration in Philadelphia.
As I have said before, and will say again, the Catholic Church in its present iteration is a broken, flawed, lawless institution. Catholic leadership is a culture of omerta, which protects its clergy at all costs. Moreover, the Vatican from the Pope Benedict XVI down, refuses to recognize the grave crisis of irrelevancy and criminality at its doorstep. When historians write about this era of the church 100 years from now, the Church will be a shell of what it once was, with liturgies appropriate for the 21st century not the 16th; its relevance diminished, and only the docile and brainwashed sitting in its pews and leading the church’s institutions.
The prophetic voice of the Catholic Church has been silenced through the shameful and shameless behavior of leadership who abused the people they demanded faithful obedience from. The Prime Minister of Ireland plainly, passionately said what many Catholics feel, and it is my personal hope that more countries begin to sever diplomatic ties with the current iteration of a flawed and damaged Catholic hierarchy which will not discipline itself until it is compelled to by law.
