The Vatican is still not accepting responsibility for its role in creating the culture of cover-ups of the sexual abuse of children, it was claimed today.
One in Four, which supports survivors of abuse, expressed disappointment over the Vatican's failure to acknowledge that its interventions in the abuse scandal had allowed church leaders to to ignore guidelines and to protect the Church at the expense of the safety of children.
"While we welcome the findings of the Visitation that the Irish Church now has good child protection practices in place we feel it is a lost opportunity to address the role played by the Vatican in perpetuating the policy of protecting abusive priests at the expense of children,” said executive director Maeve Lewis.
The organisation backed the recommendation that the Church devote more time to listening to abuse survivors and attending to their needs. However, she said One in Four had noticed a hardening of attitude on the part of church authorities the question of compensation for victims.
"We have had grotesque situations where senior Churchmen meet with survivors, assure them of their remorse for what happened while at the same time are instructing their legal teams to file full defences in relation to civil compensations suits. This only compounds the pain and hurt of survivors. It brings into question the authenticity of the Church’s repentance,” said Ms Lewis.
One in Four founder Colm O'Gorman said the seven-page document offered very little of value and was "almost farcical" in place.
Speaking on Newstalk, he said that while the Church had put a number of guidelines in place, it had resolutely failed to follow or to respect them.
"Nowhere in this statement or in any statement the Vatican has ever made, has it acknowledged its responsibility for the cover-up of these crimes (and) for its failure to properly address these crimes at any point," he said. "There's a big difference between expressing sorrow of saying that you are truly sorry for the suffering of another and accepting responsibility for that."
The Rape Crisis Network of Ireland (RCNI) said the report was welcome but was not a substitute for accountability to State structures.
"The Catholic Church must be compliant with Children First guidelines and the law of the land and monitored for same by appropriate statutory institutions. To this end the child protection priority of the Vatican and the catholic church in Ireland is to give their full cooperation to the statutory agencies who monitor their compliance with child protection requirements today." said director Fiona Neary.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (Snap), which has over 12,000 members worldwide, was also critical of the report.
"During or after devastating clergy sex crimes and cover ups, Catholic officials will promise the sun, moon and stars to parishioners and the public, hoping to “turn the page” and deflect attention from the painful present to an allegedly more promising future. But wishing or pledging reform doesn’t create reform," said Barbara Sorris, the group's outreach director.
"Only decisive action creates reform. And when it comes to this on-going, heinous scandal, decisive action by the church hierarchy seems to be forever lacking," she added.
Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald welcomed the report and the Vatican’s endorsement of the work being undertaken by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC).
“The lessons of the past are that we can never assume children are being protected. There must be robust safeguarding arrangements within all organisations working with children, backed up by a strong statutory requirement to report concerns," she said.
"The Catholic Church must continue to discharge its safeguarding responsibilities, including through the important work of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church," she added.
“The lessons of the past are that we can never assume children are being protected. There must be robust safeguarding arrangements within all organisations working with children, backed up by a strong statutory requirement to report concerns," she said.
"The Catholic Church must continue to discharge its safeguarding responsibilities, including through the important work of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church," she added.
Sinn Féin said the report failed to acknowledge the full responsibility of Church institutions.
The party's spokeman on children Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said the report was silent on the Vatican's own role in covering up the nature and extent of abuse over many years.
"“The report acknowledges the profound damage done by those clerics of the Catholic Church who abused children in Ireland and it reaffirms and seeks strict application of child protection guidelines. To that extent it is welcome," he said.
"However, by remaining silent on the Vatican’s own role as highlighted as recently as July last year in the Cloyne Report, this Vatican summary fails to acknowledge the full responsibility of Church institutions. This omission, in a summary mainly concerned with training of clerics and church renewal, does nothing to instil confidence," he added.