So what is worse between Ireland caving to Vatican pressure on such a disgusting affair or making this information available to the public? In most, if not all, of these cases it’s easy to see how those in power are upset that their secrets are being aired out. But for everyone else, it’s just as easy to see why the public has a right to know. This black box in government should be offensive to anyone who prefers democracy. If freedom haters like Joe Lieberman want to prosecute someone, it ought to be those who were actually violating the law or blocked justice.

Requests for information from the 2009 Murphy commission into sexual and physical abuse by clergy “offended many in the Vatican” who felt that the Irish government had “failed to respect and protect Vatican sovereignty during the investigations”, a cable says.

Despite the lack of co-operation from the Vatican, the commission was able to substantiate many of the claims and concluded that some bishops had tried to cover up abuse, putting the interests of the Catholic church ahead of those of the victims. Its report identified 320 people who complained of child sexual abuse between 1975 and 2004 in the Dublin archdiocese.

A cable entitled “Sex abuse scandal strains Irish-Vatican relations, shakes up Irish church, and poses challenges for the Holy See” claimed that Vatican officials also believed Irish opposition politicians were “making political hay” from the situation by publicly urging the government to demand a reply from the Vatican.