Apology (?) of papal nuncio to Ireland

Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, Papal Nuncio to Ireland, outside Irish Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday

The Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, met yesterday with Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin. The meeting was at the request of the latter due to the failure of the nuncio, of his predecessor and of the the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to reply to letters from the Murphy Commission on the abuse of children by priests in the Archdiocese of Dublin.

Religious Affairs Correspondent Patsy McGarry reports in today's Irish Times:

Following a meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin in Iveagh House, Archbishop Leanza said: “I express my shock and dismay and certainly I understand the anger of the people and the suffering of those who were abused, so we certainly condemn this . . . If there was any mistake from our side we always apologise for this.”

Dr Leanza stressed there was no intention on the part of the Vatican not to co-operate with the Murphy commission and acknowledged that he himself should have responded to a letter from the commission.

Mr Martin said he had conveyed to the nuncio the Irish public’s “deep anger and outrage” over the Murphy report findings. He also insisted on full co-operation by the church with the ongoing inquiry by the Murphy commission into the handling of clerical child sex abuse allegations in Cloyne diocese.

At least the nuncio acknowledged that he should have replied to the letter sent to him. But his 'if there was any mistake from our side we always apologise for this' comes across to me as a non-apology.

RTÉ, Ireland's national TV and radio service, reports Vatican 'dismayed' at Murphy Report findings and there are links on that page to radio and TV reports. You will find links there to both audio and video reports.