Vatican stunned by Irish embassy closure

[Locutus]

(Reuters) - Catholic Ireland's stunning decision to close its embassy to the Vatican is a huge blow to the Holy See's prestige and may be followed by other countries which feel the missions are too expensive, diplomatic sources said on Friday.
The closure brought relations between Ireland and the Vatican, once ironclad allies, to an all-time low following the row earlier this year over the Irish Church's handling of sex abuse cases and accusations that the Vatican had encouraged secrecy.
Ireland will now be the only major country of ancient Catholic tradition without an embassy in the Vatican.




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Vatican stunned by Irish embassy closure | Reuters

 

[Cliffy]

The Vatican is stunned alright. What did they think all that lying and subterfuge would bring?

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Why do countries need to have embassies in the Vatican?

Fortunatly The Irish Embassy down the street from where I work remains open and serving refreshing cold beverages.

 

[karrie]

"Dublin said it was closing its mission to the Vatican along with those in Iran and East Timor to help meet its fiscal goals under an EU-IMF bailout. The closures will save the government 1.25 million euros (864 thousand pounds) a year."

This in and of itself, let alone the child abuse scandal, would hint to me that the Vatican ought to be more pragmatic and less 'stunned' about these types of actions. There is no reason other than religion, to have an ambassador to the Vatican, and government should not be funding that.

 

[Highball]

I hope more nation's will display the courage the Irish have. What i did find out is the Vatican is the smallest autonomous nation, probably the wealthiest nation in the world and also the nation wielding the most influence over other nations. Now it is time for that entity to step up to the plate and show us all just how forthright they could be if in the world God gave us. The boldest move they could make would be to dramatically help the sagging European economy which is threatening the rest of the world!

 

[bill barilko]

Well the Vatican still has those Ukrainian women to keep them entertained