Strong speech of a Mexican journalist against the silence of the Church for abuse

ROME.- "The more they hide, the more they are ostriches, the less they inform the media and, consequently, the faithful and public opinion, the greater the scandal will be".

And the unprecedented summit on the scandal of badual abuse of minors in the clergy
began with shuddering testimonials from victims and ended today on a speech in which Mexican journalist Valentina Alazraki, Televisa correspondent, dean of the Vatican, spoke with an unprecedented frankness at the time. a meeting of this type

Vatican

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Alazraki, who covers the Vatican for 45 years and has followed 150 past trips in the last three pontiffs, was not afraid to tell the 190 bishops and cardinals around the world and to the pope that "my feeling is that the The Church is very resistant to recognizing that the problem of abuse exists and that it must be addressed with all possible tools. "

Alazraki – one of three women invited to speak at the meeting – began her thesis with a more than direct approach.

"Ask yourself a question, are you as much of us as enemies of aggressors and concealers?" We chose your camp. Did you really do it or did you talk to it? "If you are against abusers and dissenters, we are on the same side, we can be allies, not enemies, we'll help you find the wrong apples and defeat the resistance in order to get rid of the healthiest, "he continued." But if you do not radically decide to be on the side of children, mothers, families, civil society, they are right to fear us because the journalists, who want the common good, will be their worst enemies, "he warned.

Alazraki noted that for more than forty years of correspondence at the Vatican, he had seen "absolutely everything". "How many times have I heard that the scandal of abuse is" the fault of the press, a plot by some means to discredit the Church, behind which there are hidden powers, to end this institution "!" We know, journalists, that there are more rigorous journalists than others and that they depend more or less on political, ideological or economic interests, but I think the media does not can in no way be held responsible for the discovery or disclosure of abuse. against minors, they are neither gossip nor gossip, they are crimes, "he said.

During a day devoted to the crucial issue of transparency, direct as none of the nine speakers at the summit – which will end tomorrow with a Mbad and a final speech of the Pope – Alazaraki reminded the attendees that "the faithful do not forgive the lack of transparency because it is a new violence for the victims ". "Who does not inform, encourages a climate of suspicion and mistrust and causes anger and hatred towards the institution," he said. "I saw it with my own eyes during Pope Francis' trip to Chile in 2018. It was not indifference: it was outrageous and uncomfortable. anger at the systematic concealment, the silence, the deception of the faithful and the pain of the victims Decades have not been heard, they have not been believed, "he said.

After acknowledging that "in the time we live, it is very difficult to hide a secret," he demanded that the church hierarchy be the first to provide information, "proactively and not so reactive, which is usual. " "

"Count things when you know them," he asked. "It will not be nice but it's the only way they want them to believe when they say" now, cover-ups will no longer be tolerated, "he said. .

Alazraki called on the Church to learn from the mistakes of the past and recalled the scandal that occurred within the Church of his country with the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, Marcial Maciel, the author of serial abuse, which considered the "most emblematic case of ill communication" and corrupted. "Behind the silence, the lack of healthy and transparent communication, there is often not only fear of scandal, concern for the reputation of the institution, but also money, checks, gifts , permits for the construction of schools and universities in the regions concerned.where maybe that could not be built, I speak of what I saw and I did an investigation in depth, "he said.

He also gave concrete examples of the lack of transparency in the Vatican's communication, which usually informs in its daily bulletin that the pope has accepted the resignation of this or that bishop, without explaining the reasons. "There are priests who rushed to inform the faithful that they were sick and who did not leave because they were abusers, I think the news of the abdication of 39, an aggressor should be clearly announced, explicitly, "he said.

Finally, he gave three practical tips for living transparency when it comes to badual violence against minors. The first was to put the victims in the foreground. The second, let yourself be advised by communication experts. The third, to professionalize communication at all levels, a parish in the Vatican, in order to quickly give accurate information: "the answer can be neither silence nor" no comment "". "If you do not inform quickly, the answer will have more interest, it will be too late and others will do it, maybe incorrectly, the risk is high and the price of this type of behavior is even higher.the feeling that the accusations, whether true or false, or partly true and partly false, are certainly true and that there is a fear of give an answer that can be immediately denied, "he said.

He finally indicated that, as "we are on the threshold of another scandal, that of religious and nuns badually abused by priests and bishops" – something denounced by the women's magazine of L & # Osservatore Romano, This time, I went out to play the offensive and not the defensive, as in the case of child abuse. "This could be a great opportunity for the church to take the initiative and be in the forefront, denouncing these abuses that are not just badual but also the abuse of power," she said. he declared.

He said goodbye with an expression of desire: "I hope that they will come back to their dioceses thinking that we are not ferocious wolves, but that we can on the contrary join forces against the real wolves. ".