DUBLIN, Ireland, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- The Vatican warned Irish bishops not to follow new child protection guidelines that put the interests of victims ahead of priests, a letter appears to indicate.
The letter sent in 1997 told the Irish bishops the Vatican has moral reservations about a policy of reporting abuse cases to police and said the action runs contrary to canon law, the Irish National Television and Radio Broadcaster RTE reported Wednesday.
Two years later the Irish bishops were called to a meeting in Rome and told by the cardinal prefect to be "fathers to your priests, not policemen."
On at least two occasions the Vatican overturned decisions by Irish Ecclesiastical tribunals that recommended abuser priests be handed over to law enforcement, RTE reported.
The letter, viewed by an RTE program, undermines the Vatican's insistence that it never instructed local bishops to withhold evidence or suspicion of crimes from police.
