LOOK FOR UPDATES THROUGHOUT DAY AT BOTTOM OF POST REGARDING OTHER NEWS STORIES ON THIS CABLE
I have posted before on how wikileaks cables can be misleading as Vatican and Holy See affairs and what the related what the U.S. Govt knows. See Contrary To Wikileaks Reports U.S Government Had Strong Indications Ratzinger Would Be Pope
We now have a cable out dealing with the Holy See and the Irish Catholic clerical abuse scandal. The AP gives a rather sensational and misleading news report.
It is very important to LOOK AT THE CABLE ITSELF to compare to the news report to see how accurate it is.
From the AP reporter FRANCES D'EMILIO.
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Newly released U.S. diplomatic cables indicate that the Vatican felt "offended" that Ireland failed to respect Holy See "sovereignty" by asking high-ranking churchmen to answer questions from an Irish government commission probing decades of sex abuse of minors by clergy.
That the Holy See used its diplomatic immunity status as a tiny-city state to try to thwart Ireland's government-led probe has long been known. But the WikiLeaks cables, published by Britain's The Guardian newspaper on Saturday, contain delicate, behind-the-scenes diplomatic assessments of the highly charged situation.
Well thanks for reminding us the Holy See is "Tiny". Further to say the cable indicates that the Holy See was was trying to "thwart" the probe is not true as seen in the cable itself..
According to the deputy to the Irish ambassador to the Holy See, the Irish government gave in to Vatican pressure and allowed the church officials to avoid answering questions from the inquiry panel, according to one of the cables from a U.S. diplomat.
Ambassador Noel Fahey apparently told U.S. diplomat Julieta Valls Noyes that the sex abuse scandal was a tricky one to manage.
"The Vatican believes the Irish government failed to respect and protect Vatican sovereignty during the investigations," read the cable from Noyes, deputy chief of mission.
Elsewhere in the cable the diplomat, citing a Holy See official, wrote that the inquiry commission's requests "offended many in the Vatican" because they were viewed as "an affront to Vatican sovereignty."
Ok let us go to the cable itself:
Sidestepping diplomatic channels, the Murphy Commission sent a letter requesting further information to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), which follows issues relating to clerical misconduct and crimes.The Commission also asked the Vatican Nuncio in Ireland to answer questions. (Judge Murphy argued that the body did not have to follow normal inter-state procedures in making its requests because the independent commission was not part of the Irish government.).....
The Murphy Commission's requests offended many in the Vatican, the Holy See's Assessor Peter Wells (protect strictly) told DCM, because they saw them as an affront to Vatican sovereignty. Vatican officials were also angered that the Government of Ireland did not step in to direct the Murphy Commission to follow standard procedures in communications with Vatican City. Adding insult to injury, Vatican officials also believed some Irish opposition politicians were making political hay with the situation by calling publicly on the government to demand that the Vatican reply. Ultimately, Vatican Secretary of State (Prime Minister equivalent) Bertone wrote to the Irish Embassy that requests related to the investigation must come through diplomatic channels via letters rogatory.
See here for what a letters rogartory is.
In the end, the Irish government decided not to press the Vatican to reply, according to Fahey's Deputy, Helena Keleher. Moreover, Keleher
VATICAN 00000033 002.2 OF 003
told Polchief the CDF probably did not have much to add to the inquiry. Regarding the request for the Nuncio to testify, Keleher said the GOI understood that foreign ambassadors are not required or expected to appear before national commissions. Nevertheless, Keleher thought the Nuncio in Ireland made things worse by simply ignoring the requests.
As you can read the AP reporter then basically ignores the rest of the cable that puts the Holy See in a GOOD LIGHT.
So from the Cable itself we learn that the Holy See was not trying to thwart anything!! The Holy See's Secretary of State said that requests had to go through proper channels and if they wanted to know something send a letters rotatory.
The fact that the Congregation for the Faith would have little to add is very much correct. We can see that from the documents have been leaked in the United States as to sexual child abuse cases and clerics.
Let me add this commentary. The importance of the Papal Nuncio not being forced to testify is huge for matter that have nothing to do with Child abuse. That is the Church has some valid concerns of setting up a dangerous precedent.
One just has to too look at the horrific events in China happening at this very minute to see that the entire world does not operate in very satisfying way as to religious freedom to say the least.
The Church of course has some recent dramatic history on it's side to guard this precedent with it's life. The fact that countless Jews were saved by the Holy See's diplomatic arm should not be forgotten. The damage done to those Jews and others that resisted Nazis in much of Europe and elsewhere would have been beyond belief.
Though the Holy See might be "Tiny" it was that sovereignty that protected thousands of Jews in ROME itself.
After the Nazis we had the horrible oppression of communism in which the Holy Sees Diplomatic arm played a key war against that.
One can just think of the major problems one would have seen in Central and South American during various oppressive regimes if Papal Nuncios were order to appear. Major DITTO for the Holy See's current activities in Islamic countries.
Thus there are practical real life and death reasons why the Holy See despite it's "tiny" status must have its Sovereignty respected.
Update-
John Allen has a good short overview of the Cables we have seen so far.
Update II
Good Grief the Guardian itself is misleading. See The Guardian lies about WikiLeaks US cable on Vatican and Irish sex abuse inquiry
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