Allister meets EU Ambassador to Vatican
18 September 2007
Jim Allister MEP has held a meeting in Brussels with the EU’s Ambassador to the Vatican, Dr Luis Ritto. The meeting was held at the Ambassador’s request and follows a long-running campaign, through parliamentary questions, by the Ulster Euro MP to have the Commission formally protest to the Vatican over its handling of clerical child abuse cases.
For 2 years Mr Allister has been pressing the EU to challenge the Vatican on the incompatibility of its infamous document, ‘Crimen Sollicitationis’ with its obligations as a signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
‘Crimen Sollicitationis’, as exposed in a BBC Panorama programme, encourages child abuse allegations against priests to be handled internally within the Roman Catholic Church, rather than through reporting to the police and lawful civic authority. UNCRC, on the other hand, requires signatories to ensure that children’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled in each jurisdiction. Clearly, advocating secretive internal Church disposal of complaints abrogates these affirmations and rights.
As appears from the attached series of parliamentary questions and answers, Jim Allister has been pressing the Commission as to why it has not made strenuous representations to the Vatican, as it would with other countries if they were found in a similar position.
In a statement Jim Allister said:-
“In response to my persistent probing of this issue, Dr Ritto invited me to meet him. Naturally, at the meeting, I pressed the Ambassador strongly on the issues raised in my questions and expressed the view that for no other reason than it was the Vatican, the EU had been soft-pedalling with the “Holy See”. The Ambassador confirmed to me that the he had encouraged the Council of Ministers to pursue the issues, but they, including the UK Minister, did not want to get involved. However, I was encouraged to discover that nonetheless he, on behalf of the Commission, was going to pursue the issue and was planning to meet the Deputy Secretary of State of the Vatican to raise these very issues. Dr Ritto will report back to me thereafter. He professed considerable concern about the impact of ‘Crimen Sollicitationis’
The import of ‘Crimen Sollicitationis’, which is still in place, is quite shocking. It was issued to Bishops in 1962 by “the Supreme and Holy Congregation of the Holy Office”. It states it is to be stored in the “secret archives” and is to be treated as “strictly confidential”. It specifically tells bishops how to handle allegations that a priest made sexual advances towards a parishioner, particularly in the confessional. It speaks of transferring such priests – something which was frequently done in the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere. However, the document goes on to declare that these matters are to be pursued “in a most secretive way” and investigators “are to be restrained by a perpetual silence” and are required “to observe the strictest secret, which is commonly regarded as a secret of the Holy Office in all matters and with all persons, under the penalty of excommunication…”(para 11). Moreover, an oath of secrecy also is required of those accusing the priest and any witnesses.
It seems to me that this document provides the link in the thinking of all those who hid the truth for so many years. Admonitions that information regarding accusations against priests are to be deemed “a secret of the Holy Office” explains much of the success in burying allegations for decades.
Since this directive is still operative and is wholly incompatible with the duties under UNCRC, and prejudicial to the rights of victims, it is right and imperative that the Vatican should be pursued vigorously on its utter unacceptability. I look forward to Dr Ritto reporting back to me in a few weeks.”
Parliamentary questions and answers
WRITTEN QUESTION P-4347/06 by James Allister (NI) to the Commission
Subject: Disclosure of information concerning child sex abuse
Will the Commission comment on the impact of the Roman Catholic Church document 'Crimen Sollicitationis', on the fight across Europe against child sex abuse and in particular in regard to its negative effect on the securing and giving of evidence to the police and lawful authorities? What representations has the Commission made to the Vatican about this policy and if none, to date, will the Commission now urge upon the Vatican the necessity and duty of full disclosure to the police by Church authorities of all information on child abuse incidents?
P-4347/06EN
Answer given by Mrs Ferrero-Waldner on behalf of the Commission (5.12.2006)
The Commission is committed to the promotion and the protection of children’s rights, as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), its optional Protocols and other relevant international Human Rights Treaties. This Commitment was recently spelled out in the Commission Communication ‘Towards an EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child’ and in the Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA on combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography .
The Commission considers that governments that have adhered to the UNCRC have the responsibility to take all available measures to make sure children’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled in their jurisdictions. Governments, as the main duty-bearers, should ensure that children are protected from violence, abuse and all forms of sexual exploitation, regardless of who the violator is. No rules or instructions whatsoever should override this obligation. The Holy See is a signatory to the "Convention on the Rights of the Child" since April 1990 and is therefore bound by the clauses of that instrument.
Consequently, the Commission considers that issues such as failure to protect children from sexual exploitation could most efficiently be tackled through a dialogue directly with the governments concerned. The need and adequacy of addressing such issue with a specific country and/or institution should be decided upon on a case by case basis.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-5541/06 by James Hugh Allister (NI) to the Commission
Subject: Convention on the Rights of the Child
Having regard to the avoidance of the question in answer P-4347/06, will the Commission give a view on whether 'crimen sollicitationis' assists and is compatible with the 'Convention on the Rights of the Child'? Moreover, has the Commission made representations to the Vatican about 'crimen sollicitationis', and, if not, why not?
E-5541/06EN
Answer given by Mrs Ferrero-Waldner on behalf of the Commission (15.3.2007)
The Commission informs the Honourable Member that it has nothing to add to its reply to question P-4347/06 . It is the responsibility of countries to investigate and to bring to court child sex abusers following their national penal law. This is why the Commission never made any representations on this matter to the Holy See.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1674/07
by Jim Allister (NI) to the Commission
Subject: Convention on the Rights of the Child - follow-up to Question E-5541/06
Having regard to the answer given to Question E-5541/06, should I understand that it is not the policy of the Commission to make representations to countries concerning the content or quality of their national penal codes and that this has never been done in respect of any country?
E-1674/07EN
Answer given by Mrs Ferrero-Waldner on behalf of the Commission (18.6.2007)
The EU raises issues of third countries’ internal legislations whether these are in contradiction or violation with international human rights conventions to which the specific country is party, or what the EU considers to be international human rights principles which should be valid erga omnes. For example the EU demarches on issues such as legislation violating the rights of women for those countries party to the relevant international instruments. Troika demarches are also carried out under the EU Guidelines on Torture or the Death Penalty, raising particular issues regarding penal codes (e.g. the absence of or inadequate criminalisation of acts of torture, the increase of the number of crimes punishable by the death penalty). Specific examples exist also on issues such as Female Genital Mutilation, homosexual relations and the duration of the custodial detention.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3333/07
by Jim Allister (NI) to the Commission
Subject: Follow-up to Question E-1674/07 - Convention on the Rights of the Child
Having regard to answer E-1674/07, will the Commission revisit the answer to question E-5541/06, in that it is surely inconsistent to take the proper steps referred to in answer E-1674/07 but fail to make any representations to the Vatican about 'Crimen Sollicitationis' and its incompatibility with the 'Convention on the Rights of the Child'?
E-3333/07EN
Answer given by Ms Ferrero-Waldner on behalf of the Commission (20.8.2007)
The Commission believes that there is no ground to revisit the matter as requested by the Honourable Member. The matter is being closely monitored in Rome by the Commission Delegation to the Holy See and in case the situation changes, the Commission will reconsider the matter in association with Member States (which are the ones that have prime responsibility for such matters).
