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PDF versionSex abuse crisis, Vatican PR woes figure in WikiLeaks scoops
by John L Allen Jr on Dec. 11, 2010
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
Secret diplomatic cables revealed this morning as part of the WikiLeaks releases confirm that while the Vatican was appalled by revelations of clerical sexual abuse in Ireland in 2009 and 2010, it was also offended by demands that the papal ambassador participate in a government-sponsored probe, seeing it as an insult to the Vatican’s sovereign immunity under international law.
That stance, according to the cable, came off in Ireland as “pettily procedural” while failing to confront the reality of clerical abuse, and thereby made the crisis worse.
The cables also contain critical diplomatic assessments of Pope Benedict XVI’s recent decision to create new structures to welcome disgruntled Anglicans, as well as the perceived technological illiteracy and communications ineptitude of some senior Vatican officials.
PR woes in the Vatican, according to one cable, have lowered the volume on the pope’s “moral megaphone.”
Newly disclosed cables also indicate that:
• The Vatican has expressed desire to resist the influence of Venezuelan Socialist strongman Hugo Chavez across Latin America;
• It agreed to quietly encourage countries to support the Copenhagen accord on climate change, even though the Holy See does not officially take positions on draft agreements;
• It hoped that Poland would act as a bulwark against radical secularism within the European Union, especially by “holding the line” on life and family issues;
• Then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger opposed Turkey’s entry into the European Union, but as pope, Benedict XVI has taken an official neutral stance, while continuing to emphasize the importance of Europe’s Christian roots.
While the cables unveiled this morning don’t really contain any surprises about the Vatican itself, they do lift the veil on how American diplomats and their colleagues have viewed various moves by Rome in recent years.
The revelations come mostly in cables from the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See back to the State Department in Washington, often expressing information gleaned from conversations either with church sources or with other diplomats in Rome.
The cables were unveiled in the Dec. 11 issue of the U.K.-based Guardian newspaper.
One 2009 cable, titled “Sex abuse scandal strains Irish-Vatican relations, shakes up Irish church, and poses challenges for the Holy See,” reports on a conversation between Julieta Valls Noyes, the number two official at the U.S. embassy to the Vatican, and her counterparts in the Irish embassy to the Holy See.
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Noyes writes that while the Vatican’s first concern was for the victims of abuse, it also felt that requests for its ambassador in Ireland to cooperate with the “Murphy Commission” probe threatened its sovereignty under international law.
The cable reports that the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, ultimately wrote to the Irish Embassy to the Holy See to insist that any requests for information should come through proper diplomatic channels.
That stance, Noyes wrote, produced backlash in Ireland: “Much of the Irish public views the Vatican protests as pettily procedural and failing to confront the real issue of horrific abuse and cover-up by Church officials,” she wrote.
As the Irish situation developed in late 2009 and early 2010, Noyes went on to say, “the normally cautious Vatican moved with uncharacteristic speed to address the internal church crisis,” pointing to a meeting between Pope Benedict and Irish bishops in February 2010, but she also says that contacts both in Ireland and the Vatican expect the crisis “to be protracted over several years.”
In another 2009 cable, Noyes describes a conversation with Francis Campbell, the ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Holy See, about the pope’s decision to create new structures, called “personal ordinariates,” to welcome traditionalist Anglicans upset with liberalizing moves such as the ordination of women and openly gay bishops, and the blessing of same-sex unions.
The move put the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, in an “impossible situation,” according to Campbell, and potentially constituted “the worst crisis in 150 years” in Anglican-Catholic relations.
According to Noyes’ description of the conversation, Campbell warned that the move could unleash latent anti-Catholicism in the United Kingdom, and even provoke acts of violence in isolated cases.
The cable from the U.S. diplomats expressed doubt about “whether the damage to inter-Christian relations was worth it,” especially, it said, “since the number of disaffected Anglicans that will convert is likely to be a trickle rather than a wave.”
Another cable from January 2009 from Noyes, written in the wake of a global controversy provoked by Pope Benedict’s decision to lift the excommunications of four traditionalist Catholic bishops, including one who is a Holocaust denier, said the case revealed a serious “communications gap” in the Vatican.
That gap, according to the cable, leads to “muddled, reactive messaging that reduces the volume of the moral megaphone the Vatican uses to advance its objectives.”
The Vatican spokesperson, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, is the only senior papal aide to use a Blackberry, according to the cable, and most senior Vatican officials don’t even use e-mail accounts.
Because senior Vatican officials typically do not understand the nature of modern communications, the cable asserted, they often speak in “coded” language impossible for the outside world to decipher. Noyes cited an example from the Israeli ambassador to the Holy See, who said he had been given a letter from the Vatican which supposedly contained a positive message for his country, but it was “so veiled he missed it, even when told it was there.”
Part of the communications problem, the cable asserted, is structural: Lombardi is not part of the pope’s inner circle, so he “is the deliverer, rather than a shaper, of the message,” and he is “terribly overworked.”
In the wider Catholic world, the cable added, there are communications success stories – pointing in particular to the way the Catholic group Opus Dei responded to the frenzy created by the novel and movie “The Da Vinci Code.”
In general, the cable reported there's ferment in the Vatican about the need for better communications strategies, but little concrete sense of what to do about it.
“Our Vatican contacts seem to be talking about nothing but the need for better internal coordination on decisions and planned public messages,” it said. “But if or when change will come remains an open question.”
For the moment, it doesn't seem that today's disclosures are likely to create a diplomatic crisis, especially given that the Vatican announced preemptively that it did not want the WikiLeaks revelations to disrupt U.S./Vatican ties.
For one thing, Vatican officials realize that at least some of the critical assessments expressed in the leaked cables, especially on the PR front, are widely shared inside the Vatican itself. In addition, the Obama White House has tried to send reassuring signals to Rome, including the recent appointment of a presidential delegation to attend the Nov. 20 consistory for the creation of 24 new cardinals. It was the first time a U.S. president sent an official delegation to a consistory, and it was seen in the Vatican as a diplomatic way of expressing respect.
At mid-morning, Lombardi, the Vatican spokesperson, released a statement in both Italian and English on the WikiLeaks disclosures.
"Without venturing to evaluate the extreme seriousness of publishing such a large amount of secret and confidential material, and its possible consequences" the statement read, "the Holy See Press Office observes that part of the documents published recently by Wikileaks concerns reports sent to the U.S. State Department by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See."
"Naturally these reports reflect the perceptions and opinions of the people who wrote them," the statement said, "and cannot be considered as expressions of the Holy See itself, nor as exact quotations of the words of its officials. Their reliability must, then, be evaluated carefully and with great prudence, bearing this circumstance in mind."
U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Miguel Diaz likewise issued a statement, condemning the leaks "in the strongest possible terms" while declining to comment on their authenticity.
The United States and the Holy See are working together on multiple fronts, Diaz said, from fixing the global economy to human rights, climate change and interfaith dialogue, and those partnerships "will withstand this challenge."
Yeah, right: "Noyes writes
Yeah, right:
"Noyes writes that while the Vatican’s first concern was for the victims of abuse, it also felt that requests for its ambassador in Ireland to cooperate with the “Murphy Commission” probe threatened its sovereignty under international law."
Kinda like CHINA saying that the Nobel Peace Committee is interfering with its sovereignty and internal affairs under international law!
http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2010-12/10/content_11680595.htm
No, actually, not the same.
No, actually, not the same. The Vatican can be concerned about the victims and wish to assist in every way, but proper procedure has to be followed. Those who think this is petty forget that the abuse problem in Ireland was made worse by the refusal of those in a position of trust to implement proper procedures ie Canon Law, which would have dealt with the abusers straight away and see them behind bars, censured and defrocked. The real question lies with the Murphy Commission, if they were so interested in getting to the truth, why did they refuse to follow proper procedure? It seems to me they wanted to create the difficulty which emerged so they could say that the Vatican refused to cooperate.
Your comments would make
Your comments would make sense if they were not contradicted by reality. The Vatican does not act even when approached through the proper channels.
Ask all those bishops who begged for years to have some pedophile dealt with through proper channels. Didn't do them much good either.
"U.S. Ambassador to the Holy
"U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Miguel Diaz likewise issued a statement, condemning the leaks "in the strongest possible terms" while declining to comment on their authenticity."
http://www.catholicsentinel.org/Main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=61&Art...
http://vatican.usembassy.gov/english/
The leaked cables just
The leaked cables just confirm that diplomats were reading recent Vatican actions just like newspapers and the public. The Vatican is a PR disaster and the leader at the top doesn't seem interested in changing it - a geriatric theocracy. Funny, it looks a lot like Iran, Saudi Arabia ....
And now a new scandal at the Vatican Bank (Institute for Religious Works). More lies and secrecy like the sex abuse scandal that leads critics to the conclusion that the Church isn't a holy institution, but a criminal one.
http://tinyurl.com/2umovjb
We would be better off simply
We would be better off simply ignoring anything coming from Rome.. A more incompetent group of men could not be found. Dressed like 15th century princes wearing prada red shoes and caring for no one but themselves....they have become simply irrelevant.
john thulis
Observer needs to observe a
Observer needs to observe a little better. What really happened is that the Italians, who are corrupt, stole the money from the Vatican when the Vatican deposited the money in an Italian bank account. If the Vatican was so secretive, why would they put their money in an Italian account. Just like if you went to the bank in the US and deposited over 10k you would be asked to fill out a form. Well in Italy you can only image what that form is like. The Vatican didn't cross one "T" and the Italians stole the money claiming the proper procedure had not been followed and therefore it was laundered. The Vatican did this in an attempt to be more transparent. The Italians hate the Vatican. They point a cannon at St. Peter's and shoot it off every day at noon. The Italian government loves hating the Church. The only reason why they don't do more is because they know their feeble economy is based on tourism, ie the churches in Rome. If the Church was not in Rome, Rome would still be the dump it was in the middle ages.
Let's hope Wikileaks, or its
Let's hope Wikileaks, or its successor, eventually exposes the internal files of the Unholy See's centuries of involvement in covering the backsides of prelates worldwide. As part of the Vatican's conspiracy to hide leaks of child abuse.
"....the"Murphy Commission"
"....the"Murphy Commission" report threatens its (the Vatican's)sovereignty under international law."
Pray tell me, anyone, why then should the laws of the Vatican have any weight in our courts, such as Canon 515? This statue of a foreign nation, the Vatican, has no standing then in our courts, when they try to apply it regarding property rights. This is entirely secular, civil matter, not a philosophical-religious one. In the Irish situation the Vatican fended off any cooperation by standing on immunity as a sovereign nation. So why are the laws of the USA subject to the laws of the Vatican when it comes to court cases of property rights???? It seems our constitution and the laws therein are are being subjugated and threatened under international law, by the Vatican.
The Holy See knows it must
The Holy See knows it must improve its communication capabilities to the outside world. Now if it could bring over a tech savvy cleric to help it understand the importance of the internet, and all it can do positively, what a relief it would be for us who try to fight anti-Catholicism.dddddd
Perhaps Antoinette, if you
Perhaps Antoinette, if you truly wish to fight anti Christianity and anti Catholicism, you should become much more inquisitive of the role of the Episcopacy in the various scandals. Perhaps it is the Episcopacy, themselves who are not very Christ-like. Sure seems to be the case in these two scandals and more. The People of God deserve much better leadership than these old empty, delusional miters!
May we gain peace through understanding!
R. Dennis Porch, MD
The leaks are really the
The leaks are really the personal opinion of these ambasadors.
My experience is the exact opposite.
Let me refer the reader to ZENIT news organization for the latest on the Vatican and worldwide events. It easily beats any major news network in debth, insight, and analysis of international events. Who would care about news of the the Iraqi Christians, for example, if not for the Vatican?
Just some of the topics you might not even find on Wikileaks:
[2010-12-12] Pope Notes Advent's Call to Patience, Constancy
[2010-12-12] Vatican Urges Prudence to Wikileaks Readers
[2010-12-12] Marriage Tribulations
[2010-12-10] Evangelization Needs Belief in Eternity, Says Preacher
[2010-12-10] Pope Sends Prayers to Victims of Israeli Forest Fire
[2010-12-10] Pope Approves 16 Decrees for Saints' Causes
[2010-12-10] 200,000 Follow World Youth Day on Facebook
[2010-12-10] Cardinal: Lack of Faith Is Greatest Modern Threat
[2010-12-10] US Citizenship for Undocumented Youth Gains Ground
[2010-12-10] Holy Father Receives Lithuanian President
[2010-12-10] Report Records Anti-Christian Hate Crime in Europe
[2010-12-10] Vatican Seeks Faith-Culture Dialogue With US
[2010-12-09] Legion Begins to Revise Constitutions
[2010-12-09] Cardinal Stresses Faith's Power to Mold Society
[2010-12-09] The Rediscovery of God's Face
[2010-12-09] Evangelization Congregation Opens Missionary Museum
[2010-12-09] AIDS Policy Lethal Mix of Ideology?
[2010-12-09] Cardinal Koch Affirms Pontiff's Interest in Ecumenism
[2010-12-09] Africans Get to Work With "Verbum Domini"
[2010-12-09] Iraqi Bishops to Address European Parliament
This news needs to addressed
This news needs to addressed by an author Outside the Vatican aura.
John Chuchman on Dec. 13,
John Chuchman on Dec. 13, 2010.
You stated:
"This news needs to addressed by an author Outside the Vatican aura."
-------------------------------------------------------
John, you as well as I know, that the Vatican would never permit anything like that to happen. The Holy Spirit made the Apostles fearless at Pentecost. The Apostles had their tunics on their backs, and sandals on their feet---and away they went to proclaim the Good News of the Lord.
But what we have in the Vatican now are men---who own villas, have power, and authority----and they are AFRAID of loosing everything. And they want to CONTROL what is being said about them and how it is being said about them. Only an author Within their control would be permitted to speak. Sadly!!
The English Catholic Hilaire
The English Catholic Hilaire Belloc said that the Catholic Church was "an institution run with such knavish imbecility that if it were not the work of God it would not last a fortnight."
AMEN, AMEN.
AMEN, AMEN.
More important than the
More important than the Vatican becoming technologically with it, surely, is the need for the Vatican to become with it in terms of Christian morality. It is utterly absurd for Rome to be horrified over the Irish abuse scandal, almost a decade after the American (and other) abuse scandals.
More important than the ability to twitter is the ability to listen, and to take seriously what you are listening to.
"Noyes writes that while the
"Noyes writes that while the Vatican’s first concern was for the victims of abuse, it also felt that requests for its ambassador in Ireland to cooperate with the “Murphy Commission” probe threatened its sovereignty under international law."
I wish I could actually underline REQUESTS in this quote because I think that being offended by a request [not a demand] is a bit much.
Could it be that if you feign outrage at a diplomatic faux pas, you can hope to take the onus off the nature of the information they were "requesting?"
A demand may have been out of line in approaching a diplomatic state; but the #2 diplomat at the US embassy at the Vatican said it was a request.
There was an old saw....the
There was an old saw....the farther you get from the faith, the farther you get IN the Vatican. This doesn't mean it's evil....in fact, it's the opposite. If your organization isn't considering all attacks against you (let's be honest, there are a ton of them), how will you deal with them? And because those looking at these affronts are human, they won't always say and do things in a perfect way - especially looking at things years later.
The Pope is surrounded by
The Pope is surrounded by prelates living in the deep,dark past. The more one hears of the moral ineptitude and general incompetence of the Vatican bureaucracy(including the cardinals) the more one realizes that we would be better off ignoring everything they say. They are becoming increasingly irrelevant.
John J Thulis
Communication becomes very
Communication becomes very clear when the truth is told.
Francis PP, it would have
Francis PP, it would have been so nice if you were right! But as Churchill said, the one who lies the most will winn the war, or as his opponent put it; If a lie is repeated sufficiantly often it becomes thruth.
It appears that the Vatican
It appears that the Vatican continues to experience "foot in mouth disease". May some of this may be the result to not knowing who they are---is the Roman Church a spiritual institution with quasi-governmental features or a governmental institution with quasi-spiritual features? When they are caught with their "you know what" in the wringer they fall back on their being a "sovereign, dictatorial, and autocratic governmental entity. When they wish to enhance their image as a spiritual institution, they fall back on Scriptural references and theologibabble to cover their patrician backsides. I believe that I have read somewhere where one cannot serve masters----he/she will either love the one and hate the other or he/she will hate the one and love the other.
Where is the Roman Church, especially the Vatican?
Why should a bunch of old men
Why should a bunch of old men living in the 5th century need e-mail?
As to why they did not want to assist in the Murphy Commission:
1) They knew they could not control it.
2) Maintaining plausable deniability superceded ALL other considerations.
If Wikileaks has done nothing
If Wikileaks has done nothing else, it has reminded all of us of an important lesson we should have learned as children: Don't do in the darkness what you would not want to be seen doing in the light.
From the very beginning, the
From the very beginning, the Church lead the way in communications. The Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles---and they joyfully burst forth---spreading the "Good News"---the Gospel message. If St. Paul would have had a computer and the internet----we would have had volumns and volumns from him.
For centuries afterward, the Church also led and bested secular society in the areas of communication, education, the arts---first with the Benedictines, and then with the universities, the cathedrals, the encouragement of miracle (and morality plays), and the arts of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
But then, came the Reformation, and the Church developed the 'Fortress Mentality.' Sadly, we have been there ever since. We either had popes who did not take the changes in the world, society, and church seriously---or else they used an iron fist to handle changes. Pope Clement VII (1523-1534)(a Medici), was too intent on political intrigues and schemes deigned to build up his political fortunes. He paid little or no heed to the gravity of Luther's movement.
Pope Paul IV (1555-1559) had a will of iron and imposed the Council of Trent's (1545-1563) reforms like a Catholic version of John Calvin. Along with re-instating the Inquisition, Paul IV proclaimed that no book could be published unless it first cleared the Church's censors. Then, the book had to bear the word 'Imprimatur' which means 'Let it be printed." Paul IV also established the "Index of Forbidden Books" and any suspect books were to be burned.
As democratic and revolutionary ideas took hold in America, France and other countries---the Vatican took a very dim view on democracy in general, the publication of books, newspapers, town hall meetings, etc. In writing "Mirari Vos" Pope Gregory XVI in 1832 condemned the ideas of democracy by stating "this false and absurd maxim, or better this madness, that everyone should have and practice freedom of conscience."
Pope Gregory XVI also despised freedom of the press and called it "this loathsome freedom which one cannot despise too strongly."
Perhaps the one Pope who most drastically epitomized a reactionary stance toward modern governments, communication, toward everything new---was Pope Pius IX---whose papacy spaned the decades from 1846-1878. His influence extended even to the decades beyond that into the 20th century. In his "Syllabus of Errors" (1864), Pio Nono (often termed Pio No-No because he said 'NO' to everything)gave a list of 80 proposals (from democratic nations) which he condemned as erroneous. As a summary to this list of 80 proposals---Pius IX--stated that the Church had made itself the enemy of modern times.
If it had not been for the Facist movement in Italy of 'Il Duce' and the silencing of any dissent----the Vatican would not have permitted a Vatican controlled newspaper to speak for it at all.
Indeed desperate times call for desperate measures. Too bad that the Vatican(and national hierarchies)has/have lulled itself/themselves into believing that the lack of modern communications and the need for 24/7 operation/response is not crucial, and not needed.
Is the Church a sevant church
Is the Church a sevant church or a political italian consevative dynasty?
When will Benedict and company stop talking and listen?
from down under
The truth shall make you
The truth shall make you free, but can embarrass the stuffing out of you in the interim.
Way to go, truth!
The best way to prevent any
The best way to prevent any "damaging" release of diplomatic communications is to be COMPLETELY OPEN! Had the Vatican not tried to hide the sex abuse scandal, there would not be the problem it has today. The silly excuse that it used to ignore the request of the Murphy Commission simply makes its situation worse. it seems that the Vatican does not have the interests of the vulnerable as its main concern, but that it has the institutional church foremost in its concerns. How does this fit with what Jesus taught?
".....said the case revealed
".....said the case revealed a serious “communications gap” in the Vatican.
That gap, according to the cable, leads to “muddled, reactive messaging that reduces the volume of the moral megaphone the Vatican uses to advance its objectives.”
The so-called "Moral Megaphone" of the Vatican self-destructed long ago with the first revelations in the 80s of the sexual predator crisis looming, as reported by Fr. Thomas Doyle, at the request of the Vatican, and then ignored for fear of causing scandal. That's when Self-Preservation at all costs became more important than any victim. For me and countless others....the Vatican no longer has any credibility on moral issues. The Pope can continue to rail against Secularism but apparently he "can't see the forest for the trees" ....that people have left the church because of the coverups, secrecy and hypocrisy of the hierarchy.
Remember that the Roman
Remember that the Roman Catholic Church is the world's oldest ABSOLUTE DICTATORSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why does NCR bother covering
Why does NCR bother covering the bishops or the Vatican? I prefer coverage of faith matters that are relevant.
Benedict wanted to be Pope
Benedict wanted to be Pope --- well, he became the worst leader in the past 200 years --- Great job Joe!!!
Chuck K; do you really think
Chuck K; do you really think so, or did he simply fail to act in the past do to orders from JP II and Cardinal Sodano, his second in command?
Did you know? The poper
Did you know?
The poper definition of the word "truth" is, "The way things really are, from God's viewpoint?"
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