Pope opens up on sex abuse cases, says church must do more
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has shed light on the Catholic Church’s handling of sex abuse allegations against East Timor’s Nobel Peace Prizewinning independence hero, suggesting that he indeed was allowed to retire early rather than face prosecution or punishment.
Francis made the revelation in a wide-ranging interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, in which he also denied he had a role in deciding the case of a famous Jesuit artist whose seemingly preferential treatment cast doubt on the Vatican’s commitment to cracking down on abuse.
Francis acknowledged the Catholic Church still had a long way to go to deal with the problem, saying more transparency was needed and that church leaders must speak out more about abuse of “vulnerable adults.”
Francis recalled he had a steep learning curve on abuse, admitting that his “conversion” moment came during a 2018 trip to Chile, when he discredited victims of the country’s most notorious predator priest. Journalists, including from the AP, questioned Francis about his remarks during the flight home.
“I couldn’t believe it. You were the one on the plane who told me, ‘No, that’s not the way it is, Father,’” Francis said.
Making a gesture that indicated his head had exploded, the pope continued: “That’s when the bomb went off, when I saw the corruption of many bishops in this.”
“There you witnessed that I myself had to wake up to cases that were all covered up, didn’t I?” he said.
More recently, he said he has been dealing with cases of “vulnerable adults” who were victims of sex abuse and whom the Vatican’s legal code considers to be minors in internal prosecutions. The Vatican in 2019 issued a broader definition for people it considered “vulnerable” that went beyond the previous description of merely someone who “habitually lacks the use of reason.”
Francis used that expanded definition in his comments to AP — and even went beyond it, saying there are several situations in which an adult might be considered vulnerable.
“You can be vulnerable because you’re sick, you can be vulnerable because you have psychological incapacities and you can be vulnerable because of dependence,” he said. “Sometimes there is seduction. A personality who seduces, who manages your conscience, this creates a relationship of vulnerability, and so you’re imprisoned,” he said, grabbing his wrists as if handcuffed.
Francis addressed two cases that garnered attention in the past year, including one involving a leader of East Timor’s independence movement, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo.
A Dutch magazine, De Groene Amsterdammer, reported in September that two people had accused Belo of sexually abusing them when they were boys in the 1990s. The magazine said there were others who hadn’t come forward.