Elitist and narcissist is how Irish Prime Minister, Enda Kenny has described the Vatican’s handling of the sexual abuse scandal in Ireland.
Kenny said after three government reports on clerical abuse and cover-ups rocked one of Europe’s most devout societies, the church needs to be “truly and deeply penitent for the horrors it perpetrated, hid and denied.”
Next month talks begin to discus who compensates the victims, and the Irish Government is wanting the Catholic Church to hand over cash and real estate around NZ$2.4 billion.
The religious orders have paid or offered around NZ$5.2 million.
“The speech was a seminal moment in that Enda Kenny made clear that the state sees local bishops as the Vatican’s foot soldiers, but it’s the Vatican that is directing policy and practice,” said Tom Inglis, a sociology professor at University College Dublin.
“He’s following public opinion, not moulding it, but it takes an adroit politician to know when the timing is right.”
“The relationship between the state and the Vatican has never been worse” said David Quinn, a columnist in the Irish Catholic and director of the Dublin-based Iona Institute.
“I struggle to think of a stronger attack by a Western European leader on the church than Enda Kenny’s,” he said.
According to the Residential Institutions Redress Board, the Irish government has made around 14,000 payouts to victims in residential homes, averaging NZ$109,000 per claim.
A further NZ$272 million has been paid in legal fees.
In 2002, the government agreed to cap the religious orders’ contribution at NZ$222 million.
Now, with the bill rising and a budget deficit forecast at 10 percent of gross domestic product this year, ministers are pushing for a 50-50 contribution, amounting to about NZ$1.79 billion.
Sources
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