Pope condemns child sex abuse, cover- ups
‘ We acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been’
Vatican City, Aug. 20: Pope Francis publicly acknowledged the failures of the Roman Catholic church in dealing with sexual abuse by priests and asked for forgiveness.
In a letter to “the People of God” — world’s 1.2bn Roman Catholics — Pope Francis attacked the a “culture of death” and deferential “clericalism” that helps perpetuate evil, condemned the “atrocities” of child sex abuse, clerical cover- ups and called for an end to the “culture of death” in the Church.
“With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realising the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives. We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them,” the Pope wrote.
The unprecedented letter comes after a week of mounting pressure following the publication of a report by a grand jury report detailing seven decades of abuse in Pennsylvania by priests.
The landmark investigation found more than 1,000 identifiable minors had been abused by 300 priests.
With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realising the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives. We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them.
— Pope Francis
Pope Francis issued a letter to Catholics around the world on Monday condemning the crime of priestly sexual abuse and its coverup and demanding accountability, in response to new revelations in the United States of decades of misconduct by the Catholic Church.
Francis begged forgiveness for the pain suffered by victims and said lay Catholics must be involved in any effort to root out abuse and cover- up. He blasted the clerical culture that has been blamed for the crisis, with church leaders more concerned for their reputation than the safety of children.
“With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realising the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives,” Francis wrote. “We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them.”
The Vatican issued the three- page letter ahead of Francis’ trip this weekend to Ireland, a once staunchly Roman Catholic country where the church’s credibility has been devastated by years of revelations that priests raped and molested children with impunity and their superiors covered up for them.
Priestly sex abuse was always expected to dominate the trip, but the issue has taken on new gravity following revelations in the US that one of Francis’ trusted cardinals, the retired archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick, allegedly sexually abused and harassed minors as well as adult seminarians.
In addition, a grand jury report in Pennsylvania last week reported that at least 1,000 children were victims of some 300 priests over the past 70 years, and that generations of bishops failed repeatedly to take measures to protect their flock or punish the rapists.
In the letter, which was issued in seven languages, Francis referred to the
Pennsylvania report, acknowledged that no effort to beg forgiveness of the victims will be sufficient but vowed “never again.”
He said, looking to the future, “no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated.”
Francis didn’t, however, provide any indication of what concrete measures he is prepared to take to sanction those bishops - in the U. S. and beyond - who covered up for sexually abusive priests.
Francis several years ago scrapped a proposed Vatican tribunal to prosecute negligent bishops, and he has refused to act on credible reports from around the world of bishops who have failed to report abusers to police or otherwise botched handling cases, and yet remain in office.
Francis also has kept on his nine- member kitchen cabinet a Chilean cardinal long accused of covering up for pedophiles, an Australian cardinal currently on trial for historic sex abuse charges and a Honduran cardinal recently implicated in a gay priest sex scandal involving his trusted deputy.
In Chile, where a church sex abuse scandal exploded earlier this year, Francis strong- armed the country’s 31 active bishops to offer their resignations en masse over their handling of abuse. So far he has accepted five of their resignations.
No effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated
— Pope Francis
◗ Francis’ trusted cardinals, the retired archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick, allegedly sexually abused and harassed minors as well as adult seminarians. ◗ A grand jury report in Pennsylvania last week reported that at least 1,000 children were victims of some 300 priests over the past 70 years ◗ In Chile, where a church sex abuse scandal exploded earlier this year