YEDIOTH AHRONOTH (Israel), LA STAMPA (Italy), THE IRISH TIMES (Ireland)
JERUSALEM - The appointment of Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto as Papal Nuncio to Israel last week has sparked controversy in Jerusalem after it emerged that he was linked to the pedophile priests scandal that hit the Irish Catholic Church in 2005..
The country’s biggest-circulation daily newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, has refered to Lazzaroto’s appointment by Pope Benedict XVI “an embarrassment and humiliation for Israel”.
Archbishop Lazzarotto, who served as the Vatican's ambassador to Ireland at the time of the scandal, was accused of doing everything in his power to protect suspected Irish clerics.
He is thought to have spearheaded the strategy not to cooperate with Judge Yvonne Murphy - who was investigating the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin, explain La Stampa and The Irish Times.
After refusing to disclose information in Ireland, he was appointed Vatican’s ambassador to Australia in 2008.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, this “appointment is a slap in Israel’s face… Therefore, Israel must demand clarifications from the Vatican and Ireland regarding the archbishop’s conduct during the pedophile priest scandal – before his term as ambassador to Israel begins.”
