IRELAND
Irish Times
Arthur Beesley
Background: Damning reports brought relations with the Vatican to an all-time low
Benedict XVI’s papacy came at a time of worsening relations between Ireland and the Vatican as the State deepened its investigations into clerical child abuse in the Catholic church.
The church’s response was found wanting as new light was cast on a legacy of brutal sexual violence against children and systematic cover-ups, sapping its moral authority and blunting its political influence.
A nadir was reached two years ago in the wake of the Cloyne report, when Taoiseach Enda Kenny castigated the Vatican in a Dáil speech for its “brazen disregard” for child protection.
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