Benedict promises action on child abuse
Source: Agencies |
April 22, 2010, Thursday
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POPE Benedict XVI promised yesterday the Catholic Church would take action to confront the clerical sex abuse scandal, making his first public comments on the crisis days after meeting with victims.
During his weekly public audience in St Peter's Square, Benedict recounted his tearful encounter in Malta with eight men who say they were abused as children by priests in a church-run orphanage.
"I shared with them their suffering, and emotionally prayed with them, assuring them of church action," he said.
At the time of the private meeting on Sunday, the Vatican issued a statement saying Benedict had told the men the church would do everything in its power to bring abusive priests to justice and would implement "effective measures" to protect children.
Yesterday, the public heard the words from the Pope himself.
Neither Benedict nor the Vatican has elaborated on what action or measures are being considered.
Various national bishops conferences have over the years implemented norms for handling cases of priests who sexually abuse children, none more stringent than the zero-tolerance policy adopted by the United States.
The US norms bar credibly accused priests from any public church work while claims against them are under investigation. Clergy found guilty are permanently barred from public ministry and can be ousted from the priesthood.
Victims advocates have demanded the Vatican take stronger action and remove the bishops who shielded known abusers, rather than reporting them to police.
Yesterday two church officials in Dublin told The Associated Press that the pope had accepted the resignation of Bishop James Moriarty, who admitted in December that he hadn't challenged the Dublin archdioceses' past practice of concealing child abuse complaints from police.
The Vatican also is expected to accept the December resignation offers of two auxiliary Dublin bishops, Eamonn Walsh and Ray Field, in coming weeks.
All three bishops were identified in an Irish government-ordered investigation published last year into decades of cover-ups of child-abusing clergy in Dublin.
The report found that all bishops until 1996 colluded to protect scores of pedophile priests.
Last week, the Vatican for the first time issued guidelines telling bishops they should report cases of abusive priests to police where civil laws require it.
Yesterday's comments marked the Pope's first public remarks on the crisis since March 20, when he wrote a letter to the Irish faithful concerning the abuse crisis, but laying no blame on the church.
During his weekly public audience in St Peter's Square, Benedict recounted his tearful encounter in Malta with eight men who say they were abused as children by priests in a church-run orphanage.
"I shared with them their suffering, and emotionally prayed with them, assuring them of church action," he said.
At the time of the private meeting on Sunday, the Vatican issued a statement saying Benedict had told the men the church would do everything in its power to bring abusive priests to justice and would implement "effective measures" to protect children.
Yesterday, the public heard the words from the Pope himself.
Neither Benedict nor the Vatican has elaborated on what action or measures are being considered.
Various national bishops conferences have over the years implemented norms for handling cases of priests who sexually abuse children, none more stringent than the zero-tolerance policy adopted by the United States.
The US norms bar credibly accused priests from any public church work while claims against them are under investigation. Clergy found guilty are permanently barred from public ministry and can be ousted from the priesthood.
Victims advocates have demanded the Vatican take stronger action and remove the bishops who shielded known abusers, rather than reporting them to police.
Yesterday two church officials in Dublin told The Associated Press that the pope had accepted the resignation of Bishop James Moriarty, who admitted in December that he hadn't challenged the Dublin archdioceses' past practice of concealing child abuse complaints from police.
The Vatican also is expected to accept the December resignation offers of two auxiliary Dublin bishops, Eamonn Walsh and Ray Field, in coming weeks.
All three bishops were identified in an Irish government-ordered investigation published last year into decades of cover-ups of child-abusing clergy in Dublin.
The report found that all bishops until 1996 colluded to protect scores of pedophile priests.
Last week, the Vatican for the first time issued guidelines telling bishops they should report cases of abusive priests to police where civil laws require it.
Yesterday's comments marked the Pope's first public remarks on the crisis since March 20, when he wrote a letter to the Irish faithful concerning the abuse crisis, but laying no blame on the church.
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