He said: “Viewers will recognise only too well the sensational tactics and misleading editing of the programme, which uses old footage and undated interviews. “They will know that aspects of the programme amount to a deeply prejudiced attack on a revered world religious leader. “It will further undermine public confidence in Panorama.” However, the Archbishop added that the programme was a reminder of the need to work ceaselessly in the protection of children. Expert Father Tom Doyle, a canon solicitor sacked from the Vatican after he criticised its handling of child abuse, interpreted the document for the BBC. He said it was an explicit written policy to cover up cases of child abuse that emphasised the total control of the Vatican and gave no mention to the victims. But the Catholic Church said the document was not directly concerned with child abuse at all, but with the misuse of the confessional.
It added that the second document, issued in 2001, clarified the law of the Church and does not hinder the investigation of allegations of child abuse. The 39-page document, written in 1962, apparently instructed Bishops how to deal with claims of child sex abuse. This includes an oath of secrecy, enforceable by excommunication, which critics claimed could hinder an outside investigation and prosecution. Police were yesterday awaiting the results of the post-mortem examination.. The Catholic Church has hit back over claims that Pope Benedict XVI played a leading role in a systematic cover-up of child sex abuse by its priests.
One Archbishop labelled a BBC documentary broadcast yesterday evening as unwarranted, misleading and a “deeply prejudiced attack” against the Pope.
The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Birmingham, said the Panorama programme misrepresented confidential Vatican papers to back up its claims. “I’d be worried about not owning the entire share and it’s unlikely I would be able to buy back 25 per cent within the five years.”. Talk tax at the dinner table and you’ll be ignored. Narrow it down to inheritance tax (IHT), though, and the conversation will flow fast and furious. Thanks partly to the political party conference season and policy reviews – the Conservatives go this week after Labour and the Liberal Democrats – and partly to soaring property prices, concern about IHT is muscling its way into millions of minds.
Many readers have contacted The Independent on Sunday Money desk to express their concern that their estates are now worth a lot more than the current £285,000 threshold (IHT is paid at 40 per cent on anything over this) – and to complain about how unfair it is that they should pay have to pay the tax.Stuart Mann bought his house in Manchester for “not many thousands of pounds” under the 1980s “right to buy” policy, which let council tenants buy their home at a discount.
