Vatican critics want an end to concealment

THE recent comment by Cardinal Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, who described the criticism of the Holy See relating to clerical child sex abuse as “truly incomprehensible” is absurd, unworthy and mischievous.

Sodano claims that those who criticise the Pope and bishops are transforming individual guilt into collective guilt; that this is manipulative and part of a cultural battle that challenges the moral truths propagated by the Pontiff.

Those who criticise are doing no such thing. They are seeking a degree of accountability and candour that has been concealed by decades of obfuscation and evasion to the point where too many bishops have lost the vital resource of their office — moral authority.

They are also seeking recognition that the civic processes in society are supported unambiguously by the church and not impeded by anything, including canon law and diplomatic bolt-holes. They demand that the Holy See promptly replace bishops who have lost moral authority and stature because they have concealed wrongdoers from justice, or were implicated in doing so.

There is no justification whatsoever for the creation of a flimsy cordon sanitaire to insulate them and the Pope from accountability and consequences.

Myles Duffy

Bellevue Avenue

Glenageary

Co Dublin