Irish-Vatican diplomacy SEAN DONLON
A relationship in need of repair
Relations between the Irish Government and the Catholic Church are at their lowest ebb for years in the wake of the child- absue scandal. Now Ireland’s embassy to the Holy See is to close. That, says a former Irish diplomat, is a mistake, just when talks should be intensified, not diluted
G
iven the modest cost of running the Irish Embassy to the Holy See – just £500,000 a year – it is dif- ficult to accept that the decision
to close it has been taken primarily on financial grounds. After all, the work of diplomats based there could hardly ever have been assessed in terms of economic returns. It is more likely that the decision is mainly
a reflection of the continuing deterioration of relations. The slide began more than a gen- eration ago with significant differences on dealing with the Northern Irish situation. Dublin was opposed to any recognition for or contact with organisations, such as the Provisional IRA, which were using violence to achieve political objectives. The Vatican’s position appeared ambivalent. In more recent times, the differences mani - fested themselves in the handling of clerical child sex abuse. Dublin hugely resented the lack of cooperation from the Vatican as it sought to investigate and deal with the well- documented litany of abuse and cover-up. Last July, a report on child sex abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne was severely critical of the Vatican and prompted the Taoiseach (Irish
Prime Minister), Enda Kenny, publicly and robustly to attack the culture of the Vatican. His speech was well received in Ireland and prompted calls to sever diplomatic relations with the Holy See. On 3 September, the Holy See responded with a 25-page explanation but this was seen, at least in government circles in Dublin, as bureaucratic and self-serving. On 8 September, the Government issued a state- ment which acknowledged that the Holy See was sorry and ashamed for the terrible suf- ferings the victims of abuse and their families had suffered. But it did not resile from the original accusation that, in 1997, the then nuncio in Dublin, Archbishop Luciano Storero, “provided a pretext for some members of the clergy to evade full cooperation with the Irish civil authorities in regard to the abuse of minors”. The statement also pointed out that the Government’s position accurately reflected the anger of the overwhelming majority of Irish people at the failure of the Catholic Church in Ireland and the Holy See to deal adequately with clerical child sex abuse. The low-key public reaction to the announcement of the closing of the embassy
Ireland’s scaled-down mission
Beginning early next year, Ireland will be represented to the Holy See on a non-resident basis by the Dublin-based Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, David Cooney. Born in London to Irish emigrant parents, he is a graduate of Keele University and has had a distinguished career in the Irish diplomatic service, including serving as Irish Ambassador to the Court of St James in London, to the UN in New York and, during his early career, as third secretary at the Embassy to the Holy See in Rome. The Primate of All Ireland, Cardinal Seán Brady, expressed his
“profound disappointment” at the closure of Ireland’s Embassy to the Holy See, adding that “this decision seems to show little regard for the important role played by the Holy See in international relations and the historic ties between the Irish people and the Holy See over many centuries”. The response from the Holy See to the Irish Government’s announcement was more diplomatic, confining itself to pointing out that “every state that has diplomatic relations with the Holy See is free
12 | THE TABLET | 12 November 2011
to decide, on the basis of her interests, whether to have an ambassador to the Holy See resident in Rome or in another country. What is important is diplomatic relations between the Holy See and states, and these are not in question with regard to Ireland.” Ireland currently has 78 resident diplomatic and consular missions abroad; the Department of Foreign Affairs budget for this year is £150 million. The department employs about 1,400 people, of whom half are based abroad. The Embassy to the Holy See has had, at most, two diplomats and two local staff. It is not one of Ireland’s more significant foreign missions in terms of either staff numbers or cost.
By closing its embassies in East Timor, Iran and the Holy See, the
Irish Government will save £1m a year, of which half will be attributable to the Holy See mission. The magnificent Villa Spada in Rome, a former Agnelli home once used by Garibaldi, which houses both the office and the ambassador’s residence, is not being sold. It is to be transferred for use as part of the Irish Embassy to Italy.
suggests that the Dublin Government con- tinues to enjoy wide public support in its handling of Church-State relations. Nor was there much comment after a government spokesman said recently that there was no question of an official invitation to the Pope to next year’s International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. Domestic popularity is not, however, a good basis for the formulation of foreign policy. There are important outstanding issues between the Irish Church and State, the reso - lution of which would benefit from having a resident listening and negotiation post at the Holy See. The first of these is the continuing investigations into clerical child sex abuse. Agreement will need to be reached on the nature and extent of the cooperation the Holy See will give. In addition, the Government has announced that it wishes to review the involvement of the Church in many aspects of the educational system, especially at pri- mary level, which are largely managed by the Church but funded by the State. Similar issues arise in relation to the running of many major hospitals, which have traditionally been dom- inated by female religious orders.
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