Writer

Kieran Tapsell
Kieran Tapsell is a retired Australian civil lawyer and the author of Potiphar’s Wife: The Vatican’s Secret and Child Sexual Abuse, (2014), Second Edition, Updated and Expanded (2024).”
-
Putting the Jesuitical back into the Jesuit. Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell
The Vatican has two hats. It is the mini-State of 44 hectares in Rome, and it is the “Holy See”, the governing body of the Catholic Church. When it suits, it puts on one hat and hides the other. At the Murphy Commission in Ireland it relied on its status as a foreign country in Continue reading »
-
Cracks in the Church Dyke at the Royal Commission. Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell
On 19March 2010, after the Murphy Commission in Ireland found that there had been widespread cover up of child sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin, Pope Benedict XVI wrote a “Pastoral Letter to the People of Ireland”. The Murphy Commission had some harsh things to say about canon law and the requirements of secrecy, Continue reading »
-
Archbishop Coleridge and Canon Law: Humpty Dumpty Rules . Guest blogger Kieran Tapsell
“When I use a word, Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, “It means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – that’s all.” Continue reading »
-
Flogging a dead horse at the Royal Commission on Sexual Abuse. Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell
Whenever there has been an inquiry into the Catholic Church’s handling of child sex abuse by its clergy, the Church has claimed that child sex abuse was some sort of hidden problem that the whole world, including the Church, had only just discovered. It has done this in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and now Continue reading »
-
New Vatican Committee on Sexual Abuse and ‘zero tolerance’ of Pope Benedict. Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell
On 5 December 2013, the Vatican announced that it had set up a new Committee on sex abuse and that the “the initiative was also in line with the zero tolerance approach of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.” Pope John Paul II has rightly been hailed for his contribution to bringing down the Soviet Union. But Continue reading »
-
Bella Figura and the Vatican. Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell
Bella figura, writes Bishop Geoffrey Robinson in his book, For Christ’s Sake, pervades the Vatican. In Italian, it means putting on a good appearance, and never admitting mistakes – what we might call “spin”. Its opposite, bruta figura means looking dreadful. Bella figura can quickly turn bruta as Sir Walter Scott reminded us: “Oh what Continue reading »
-
Sexual abuse – don’t mention Canon Law! Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell
Submissions and speeches by the Australian Catholic Church about child sex abuse, remind me of Fawlty Towers, where Basil asks his non German guests not to mention the war. In the Church’s case, the unmentionable is canon law, the law of the Catholic Church. In his speech at Ballarat on 20 November 2013, Francis Sullivan, Continue reading »
-
Systemic issues arising from the Victorian Parliament’s ‘Betrayal of Trust Report’ Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell
On 13 November 2013, the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organizations handed down its Report, entitled “Betrayal of Trust”. It stated: “No representatives of the Catholic Church directly reported the criminal conduct of its members to the police. The Committee found that there is simply no justification Continue reading »