VATICAN SHAMED BY SEX ABUSE RAPS
Pope Francis says he’s on the side of victims and wants to root out ‘tragic horror that destroys the lives of the innocent’
VATICAN CITY— The Vatican expressed “shame and sorrow” on Thursday over revelations that Catholic priests in Pennsylvania sexually abused about 1,000 people over seven decades.
In the Vatican’s statement since the US grand jury report that has shaken the US Church, spokesperson Greg Burke said the Holy See was taking the report “with great seriousness.”
Rooting out a tragic horror
He stressed the “need to comply” with civil law and said Pope Francis understands how “these crimes can shake the faith and spirit of believers” and that the pontiff wanted to “root out this tragic horror.”
“Victims should know that the pope is on their side,” the Vatican said.
“Those who have suffered are his priority, and the Church wants to listen to them to root out this tragic horror that destroys the lives of the innocent,” the statement said.
The grand jury on Tuesday released the findings of the largest-ever investigation of sex abuse in the US Catholic Church, finding that 301 priests in the state had sexually abused minors over the past 70 years.
“The abuses described in the report are criminal and morally reprehensible. Those acts were betrayals of trust that robbed survivors of their dignity and their faith,” Burke said.
Church must learn lesson
“The Church must learn hard lessons from its past, and there should be accountability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur,” he said.
The Vatican statement came hours after US bishops called for a Vatican-led probe backed by lay investigators into allegations of sexual abuse by former Washing- ton Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who resigned last month.
Pope Francis accepted McCarrick’s resignation in July after American church officials said allegations that he sexually abused a 16-year-old boy almost 50 years ago were credible and substantiated.
“The overarching goal in all of this is stronger protections against predators in the Church and anyone who would conceal them, protections that will hold bishops to the highest standards of transparency and accountability,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
New process underway
The bishops said they would create a new way to report accusations of sexual abuse by clergy members and for claims to be investigated without interference from bishops overseeing priests accused of sex abuse.
They said it would involve more church members who were not clergy but had expertise in law enforcement or psychology.
Nick Ingala, a spokesperson for Voice of the Faithful, said it was heartening that bishops wanted to set up such a process but he expressed skepticism that it would be successful.
The Pennsylvania grand jury report was the latest revelation in a scandal that erupted onto the global stage in 2002, when the Boston Globe newspaper reported that priests had sexually assaulted minors while church leaders covered up their crimes.
Similar reports have emerged in Europe, Australia and Chile, prompting lawsuits and investigations, sending dioceses into bankruptcy and undercutting the moral authority of the Catholic Church, which has some 1.2 billion members around the world.