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Newsline: Holy See slams allegations against Vatican’s US ambassador
The Vatican is threatening to take legal action against those responsible for publishing a new book of leaked internal documents. The book sheds light on power struggles and corruption inside the Holy See and the thinking of its embattled top banker. Pope Benedict XVI has already appointed a commission of cardinals to investigate the “Vatileaks” scandal. It erupted earlier this year with the publication of leaked memos alleging corruption and mismanagement in Holy See affairs and internal squabbles over its efforts to comply with international anti-money-laundering norms. The publication Saturday of “His Holiness” by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, added fuel to the fire, reproducing confidential letters and memos to and from Pope Benedict and his personal secretary which, according to the Vatican, violated the pope’s right to privacy. Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said in a statement Saturday the book was an “objectively defamatory” work that “clearly assumes characters of a criminal act.” He warned the Holy See would get to the bottom of who “stole” the documents, who received them and who published them. He warned the Holy See would seek international cooperation in its quest for justice, presumably with Italian magistrates. The Vatican had already warned of legal action against Nuzzi after he published letters in January from the former second-highest Vatican administrator to the pope. In those letters the administrator begged not to be transferred for having exposed alleged corruption that cost the Holy See millions of euro in higher contract prices. The prelate, Monsignor Carlo Maria Vigano, is now the Vatican’s US ambassador. Much of the documentation is fairly Italy-centric: about a 2009 scandal over the ex-editor of the newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference, a previously-unknown dinner between Benedict and Italy’s president, and even a 2011 letter from Italy’s pre-eminent talk show host Bruno Vespa to the pope enclosing a check for 10,000 euro for his charity work and asking for a private audience in exchange. But there are international leaks as well, including diplomatic cables from Vatican embassies from Jerusalem to Cameroon. Some concern the conclusions of the pope’s delegate to the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order. In a memo sent to the pope last autumn he warned that the financial situation of the order, beset by a scandal over its pedophile founder, “while not grave, is serious and pressing.”
http://www.rt.com/news/vatican-slams-leaked-documents-criminal-694/
Newsline: Talks under way to reopen Irish embassy in Vatican
Talks aimed at re-opening the Vatican embassy in Rome on the same site as the Italian embassy are taking place with church authorities, according to the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs. David Cooney — who is also Ireland’s non-resident ambassador since the embassy closed — told the Dail Public Accounts Committee that the Vatican has rules against a country having one embassy or ambassador serving both Italy and the Holy See. Other countries have been allowed house their Italian and Vatican embassies in the one building. But Mr Cooney said he had been talking to Vatican officials on the possibility that Ireland could use Villa Spada in Rome, which housed the Vatican embassy, for both, adding that it depended on more resources being made available. However, he was adopting an approach of “the less said, the better”, since the Vatican would be more likely to relax its rules for Ireland if the negotiations didn’t draw the attention of other countries seeking similar treatment. He also said nobody in Government asked his department to close the embassy, and insisted it was on a cost-cutting shortlist drawn up by his officials. As part of budget cutbacks, Mr Cooney said his department came up with a number of options, which included closing embassies in East Timor and the Vatican together, or East Timor, the Vatican and Tehran, Iran, together.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/talks-under-way-to-reopen-vatican-embassy-3093714.html
Newsline: Motion to reopen Irish embassy in Vatican defeated
A motion to reopen the Irish embassy in the Vatican has been defeated at the Labour party conference in Galway. Delegates rejected a recommendation from Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Joe Costello to refer the motion to the party’s central council and then went on to vote it down on a show of hands. Proposing the motion, Sean Canniffe (Tuam, Co Galway) said the Vatican was the centre of the Catholic world and the embassy was a very important symbol of its relationship with Ireland. “I am not suggesting that anybody who is not a Catholic should believe this, but that is what Catholics believe,” he added. Gerry Kerr (Finglas, Dublin) said the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore had stated unequivocally that the embassy was closed solely for cost-cutting reasons. He said the embassy should be kept closed until the Vatican fully co-operated with the Republic’s inquiries into the sexual abuse of children.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0415/breaking43.html
Newsline: 40pc say Vatican embassy closure was definite snub
The Government faces lingering resentment over the decision to close the Vatican embassy, the Sunday Independent/Millward Brown Lansdowne poll shows. Most people don’t believe Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s vehement assertion that the decision to shut the embassy was based on financial reasons. The poll found that 40 per cent of respondents are convinced that the icy relationship between the Government and the Vatican was behind the move — manifested most clearly in Mr Kenny’s landmark address to the Dail in which he said that the Cloyne Report highlighted the “dysfunction, disconnection, elitism and narcissism that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day”. In all, just 22 per cent believe the Government’s assertion that the removal of our ambassador and his staff from the Vatican was simply to save money in the diplomatic and consular service. Another 22 per cent believe the Government killed two birds with one stone — shutting the embassy for both political and financial reasons. A large rump of 16 per cent don’t know why the decision was taken. The poll findings come as the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin admitted that the Catholic Church in Ireland is at “breaking point” in an interview on the most popular news programme in the US. In an interview pre-recorded with CBS’s 60 Minutes in Dublin, Dr Martin said that, with the church in crisis, now was not the time to forget the scandal of clerical child sex abuse. According to the Sunday Independent/Millward Brown Lansdowne poll, among the 40 per cent who believe that the decision to close the Vatican embassy was political, a slight majority of 54 per cent believe it was a bad decision and 33 per cent back the closure on political grounds with 13 per cent “don’t knows”.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/40pc-say-vatican-embassy-closure-was-definite-snub-3038944.html
Newsline: Irish government confirms Vatican Embassy closure will stand
The Dublin government has again confirmed that the decision to close the Irish Embassy in the Vatican stands. The Department of Foreign Affairs has stated that the closure will remain in place despite renewed pleas from Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin. Speaking before a mass to welcome the new Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Dr Martin expressed his wish that the embassy to the Holy See be restored. “I am confident the embassy will re-open in some other way,” said Dr Martin who expressed his belief that the Italian and Vatican embassies could be on the same site, and share some facilities, while remaining separate. But Irish deputy Prime Minister Eamonn Gilmore is adamant that the decision, taken in the wake of the Cloyne Report on Clerical Sexual Abuse as relations between Church and State soured, is not for turning. His claims have been re-iterated by the statement from the Foreign Affairs department which he oversees. “It may be reviewed down the line in the light of the economic circumstances and the resources available to the department and our diplomatic network abroad but not in the near future,” said a Department spokesman. Prime Minister Enda Kenny remains under pressure from within his own ranks to reverse the decision to close the embassy at the Vatican.
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Government-confirms-Vatican-Embassy-closure-will-stand–139684913.html
Newsline: Vatican embassy may reopen within two years
Ireland will reopen its embassy to the Vatican “within the next year or two if economic conditions allow”, European Affairs Minister Lucinda Creighton has predicted. The Cabinet decided in November to close the embassy on the recommendation of Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore, who cited economic grounds as the reason. The move has led to significant opposition from Fine Gael backbenchers, who say they have been receiving extensive complaints from constituents about it. Ms Creighton is among those to have expressed a desire to see the embassy re-open, despite the fact she is the junior minister in Mr Gilmore’s department. In an interview with the Irish Examiner, she was careful not to criticise Mr Gilmore but again reiterated her belief that the embassy would be reopened within the Government’s term. The Irish embassy to the Vatican was based in Villa Spada, a historic building owned by the State. The Vatican embassy was entirely separate to Ireland’s embassy to Italy, which was located in rented accommodation in Rome. As a result of the decision to close the Vatican embassy, the Government decided to move the Italian embassy to Villa Spada to save money. However, the ambassador to Italy cannot double up as the ambassador to the Vatican because the Holy See does not permit a “joint servicing arrangement”. However, in the Seanad this week, Mr Gilmore signalled that the Vatican might be willing to show “some flexibility” on the issue. “What I would like to have been able to do would have been to combine the embassy in Italy and the embassy in the Vatican. “The Government has decided to appoint the secretary general of my department, David Cooney, to be the ambassador to the Holy See and to service that mission from Dublin. “There are some indications that the Vatican may be willing to show some flexibility with regard to the co-location of embassies and offices and then we will continue to explore those possibilities. “If circumstances improve, we can re-examine the position, but at the moment, the position is as it is and we do not have a resident ambassador to the Vatican.”
http://www.irishexaminer.com/news/vatican-embassy-may-reopen-within-two-years-says-creighton-182614.html
Newsline: Irish public decries closure of embassy to the Vatican
Eamon Gilmore’s decision to close the Irish embassy to the Vatican was met with overwhelming opposition from the public with over 93% criticising the move. Writing on the embassy closure, one member of the public claimed Mr Gilmore had a “raw hatred” of the Catholic Church and compared him to Oliver Cromwell. Another claimed the Government was using the clerical child sexual abuse scandals as “cover” to wage a “vendetta” against the Church. Several citizens questioned the economic rationale that Mr Gilmore put forward for closing the embassy, and said Ireland’s foreign policy efforts would ultimately suffer. Mr Gilmore, in his role as foreign affairs minister, announced the decision to close the embassy on November 3 last, citing the need to save money. He denied the move had anything to do with the fallout from the Cloyne Report in July, during which Mr Kenny had accused the Vatican of downplaying the rape and torture of children to protect its own primacy. But whereas Mr Kenny received widespread public support following that speech, Mr Gilmore received mostly criticism following the decision to close the embassy. The Irish Examiner sought to view, under the Freedom of Information Act, all letters and emails received by Mr Gilmore on the subject in the 12 days after the announcement of the decision. A total of 102 records were released, 95 of which criticised the decision to close the embassy and just seven of which were supportive. In percentage terms, that meant 93.1% of the responses were critical and 6.9% supportive.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/public-decries-closure-of-embassy-to-the-vatican-180331.html
Newsline: Irish oublic decries closure of embassy to the Vatican
Eamon Gilmore’s decision to close the Irish embassy to the Vatican was met with overwhelming opposition from the public with over 93% criticising the move. Writing on the embassy closure, one member of the public claimed Mr Gilmore had a “raw hatred” of the Catholic Church and compared him to Oliver Cromwell. Another claimed the Government was using the clerical child sexual abuse scandals as “cover” to wage a “vendetta” against the Church. Several citizens questioned the economic rationale that Mr Gilmore put forward for closing the embassy, and said Ireland’s foreign policy efforts would ultimately suffer. Mr Gilmore, in his role as foreign affairs minister, announced the decision to close the embassy on November 3 last, citing the need to save money. He denied the move had anything to do with the fallout from the Cloyne Report in July, during which Mr Kenny had accused the Vatican of downplaying the rape and torture of children to protect its own primacy. But whereas Mr Kenny received widespread public support following that speech, Mr Gilmore received mostly criticism following the decision to close the embassy. The Irish Examiner sought to view, under the Freedom of Information Act, all letters and emails received by Mr Gilmore on the subject in the 12 days after the announcement of the decision. A total of 102 records were released, 95 of which criticised the decision to close the embassy and just seven of which were supportive. In percentage terms, that meant 93.1% of the responses were critical and 6.9% supportive.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/public-decries-closure-of-embassy-to-the-vatican-180331.html
Newsline: Ireland to close embassies to Vatican,Iran and E Timor
The Irish Republic has decided to close its embassies to theVaticanand two other nations on cost-saving grounds. It said the closure of the missions in Vatican City and also in Iran and East Timor would save about 1.25m euros (£1.1m; $1.7m) a year. ButDublinstressed that the move was not related to a clerical child abuse row between Ireland and the Holy See. In July, a report accused theVaticanof aiding child-abuse cover-ups inCork- a claim denied by the Holy See. The Vatican later recalled its special envoy inDublinto discuss the impact of the damning Cloyne Report. “It is with the greatest regret and reluctance that the government has decided to close Ireland’s (embassy) to the Holy See,” said a statement from the Irish foreign ministry. It added thatDublin”believes thatIreland’s interests with the Holy See can be sufficiently represented by a non-resident ambassador”. Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore said diplomats atIreland’s Italian embassy would move into the villa currently used by itsVaticanstaff. Mr Gilmore pointed out that the government had to implement cuts to meet targets set out inIreland’s economic rescue deal backed by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Responding to the closure announcement, Cardinal Sean Brady, the ecclesiastical head of the Roman Catholic Church inIreland, expressed his “profound disappointment”. “I hope that today’s decision will be revisited as soon as possible,” he said in a statement.
Newsline: Vatican diplomat trusts Libyan rebels’ good intentions
A Catholic bishop serving in Libya plans to meet Libyan rebel leader. Mustafa Jibril says the country’s new order will be inspired by Sharia but will be against Islamic extremism. Amnesty International accuses the rebels of serious human rights violations. “We must back the rebels’ good intentions rather than take their words to extremes,” said Mgr Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli. He spoke to AsiaNews about the recent speech made today inTripoli, by Mustafa Abdel Jibril, president ofLibya’s National Transitional Council (NTC). Speaking before a crowd of thousands of people, the NTC leader said the new state would be inspired by Sharia but would not move towards extremism. In the meantime, the country is still far from being stable. In Sirte, Bani Walid and the south, fighting is still going on with many civilians caught in the crossfire between pro- and anti-Gaddafi forces. Revenge actions between tribes and families are still out of control and are causing many victims. Amnesty International released a report accusing the rebels of serious human rights violations against Gaddafi loyalists. The report also refers to the lynching of black Africans suspected of being mercenaries hired by Col Gaddafi, as well as revenge killings and the torture of some captured pro-Gaddafi soldiers. The NTC has criticised the Amnesty report, saying that rebels “are not the military, they are only ordinary people,” who made mistakes, but that these could not be described as “war crimes”.
http://www.speroforum.com/a/60217/Libyan-Vatican-diplomat-trusts-rebels-good-intentions
