The Vatican

I believe it was three weeks ago yesterday, at mass, that I was given a copy of the Pope's letter to Irish Catholics. I found it quite unsettling because, although he referred to Curial representatives being present during his recent meetings in Rome with the Irish hierarchy, the thrust of the letter apppeared to be that Irish Catholics have a problem, not the church as a whole, and, in particular, not the Vatican administration. The public response, in so far as I can judge it, appears to parallel mine.

I know how difficult it is to manage anything, and I can only speculate on the magnitude of the endeavour, when one is trying to give guidance to the spiritual lives of people who inhabit every corner of the globe, and who speak every known language. I suspect, however, that the population of Vatican City is living in s world which no longer exists, and that at least some members of the Curia have little understanding of the real world, and how difficult many of us find the struggle to understand how we should cope with life in the twenty-first century.

The many articles I have read in newspapers, and the information I have gained from the Web, suggests to me that the Vatican is in denial about the manner in which child abuse has been handled within the Church. I think that the overriding concern, at least on occasion, has been to protect the image of Catholicism, not to acknowledge the grave sins which had been committed against innocent children, and I think that healing has to begin with a full and frank acknowledgment from the highest level within the Church.