Victims of Sexual Abuse in the Church Demand Responses to the Vatican

Catholics victims of badual abuse of priests insisted Sunday that a meeting to be held in the Vatican will produce decisive action to address the secular problem of pedophile priests and ecclesial concealment. Peter Isely, founding member of the activist group End clergy abuse (Put an end to religious abuse), he denounced Sunday that Pope Francis "faces resistance" from senior Vatican officials as he prepares the conference of bishops around the world.

"Let me tell you what it was like to try to resist the priest who badually badaulted me when I was a child," Isely said. "So, as difficult as it may be for him (the pope) or as it is annoying for anyone who is in the palace of the popes, this is nothing compared to what the survivors had to suffer. " Isely offered his point of view in an interview with the agency Associated press before Francisco talked about the importance of Ecclesiastical Summit from 21 to 24 February to protect children and adolescents in the Church.

Addressing the faithful of the place, Francis asked for their prayers for the meeting of the heads of episcopal conferences around the world. The pontiff said that he wanted this summit to be "an act of strong pastoral responsibility facing an urgent challenge of our time". Revelations in many countries about priests who rape and commit all kinds of badual badaults on minors a model of bishops covering the crimes shook the faith of many Catholics.

The Vatican announced on Saturday that Francisco had approved the expulsion from the priesthood of a former American cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, for badual abuse of minors and adults. But the victims' rights activists also asked the pope to say what he and other senior Vatican officials knew about the decades-old prelate's abusive badual behavior.

"If you abuse a child, you must be expelled from the priesthood," said Isely. "If you cover the abuse of a child, you must be expelled from the priesthood, and that's the only thing that will mark a change in this global crisis." Francisco attempted to moderate expectations for the summit, saying in January that "the problem of abuse will persist" because "it is a human problem", but Isely responds that the expectations must be high and that the participants "should offer results for the future". victims. "

Internal resistance

An "act of strong pastoral responsibility facing an urgent challenge of our time", called the summit of the heads of Episcopal Conferences on the protection of minors against badual abuse in the Church. "From Thursday to Sunday, a meeting of the presidents of all the episcopal conferences on the theme of the protection of minors in the Church will be held in the Vatican.I invite you to pray for this meeting, which I wanted as an act of great pastoral responsibility before an urgent challenge of our time, "announced Francisco at the end of the Angelus.

Marco Politi, former Vatican observer, said that he was seeing Francisco also faces an internal resistance. "There is a struggle between the pope and his supporters who want change, and many people among bishops and clergy who do not want transparency or law enforcement against the problem of abuse in the world, "said Politi. Some critics of Francisco say that because of the culture of the Catholic hierarchy, he too He acted slowly to recognize the role of this hierarchy in perpetuating the abuses committed by priests.

S.D.