Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi (Credit: Pier Paolo Cito / AP Photo)
The Vatican said Saturday that it did not discourage Irish bishops from reporting sexual abuse of minors to the police and denied reports that it had undermined efforts to investigate abuse. In July, the Irish government released a report which accused the Vatican of encouraging bishops not to report instances of abuse. Later, the Irish Parliament released a statement saying that the Vatican “contributed to the undermining of the child protection framework and guidelines of the Irish state and Irish bishops.” In its statement, the Vatican said that the report “contains no evidence to suggest that the Holy See meddled in the internal affairs of the Irish State, or, for that matter, was involved in the day-to-day management of Irish dioceses or religious congregations with respect to sexual abuse issues,” and called the Irish Parliament’s statement “unfounded.”