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VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – An African nun on Saturday ransacked Catholic bishops for many mistakes in managing the badual abuse crisis, saying the church must recognize its "mediocrity, hypocrisy and complacency."
Sister Veronica Openibo, a Nigerian who has worked in Africa, Europe and the United States, spoke in a soft voice but sent a strong message to the prelates sitting in front of her.
"We proclaim the Ten Commandments and present ourselves as the guardians of moral standards, values and good behavior in society. Hypocrites sometimes? Yes! Why did we stay silent for so long?
Openibo delivered his speech at the beginning of the penultimate day of a Vatican summit conference bringing together some 200 senior church officials convened by Pope Francis to deal with what he said. he called the scourge of badual abuse by the clergy.
She told Pope Francis directly, sitting near her on the stage, that she admired him because he was "humble enough to change his mind". , is excused and took action after initially defending a Chilean bishop accused of concealing abuse. The bishop subsequently resigned.
"How could the clerical Church have kept silence to cover these atrocities? The silence, the carrying of the secrets in the hearts of the authors, the duration of the abuses and the incessant transfers of the authors are unimaginable, "she said.
She spoke of her shock when she watched the Oscar-winning film Spotlight 2015, which revealed how church leaders in Boston had moved parish priest predators to a parish in the parish. instead of defrocking them or handing them over to the civil authorities.
"At the present time, we are in a state of crisis and shame. We have seriously darkened the grace of the mission of Christ, "said Openibo.
"We must recognize that our mediocrity, our hypocrisy and our complacency have brought us to this scandalous and scandalous place in which we find ourselves as a church. We stop to pray, Lord, have mercy on us!
She added that Church leaders must give up their habit of hiding events for fear of being wrong.
"Too often, we want to remain silent until the storm is over. This storm will not pbad. Our credibility is at stake, "she said.
The ruling Cardinals said Friday at a four-day conference that the church was to repair the "systematic failures" that had allowed the rooting of badual abuse around the world, and that bishops had to start to control each other. [L5N20H5F3]
On Thursday, at the start of the conference, five victims reported painful stories of abuse and concealment and the pope said he could count on concrete measures.
Groups of victims complained that, although some priests who badually abused children were eventually sanctioned by the Church and condemned by the civil authorities, the bishops who allowed the abuses or had them concealed have not been punished.
The conference will end on Sunday when the pope will deliver a final speech. The Vatican said it would then formulate follow-up measures to make sure any bishop goes home knowing how to put anti-abuse procedures in place.
Report by Philip PullellaEdition by Edmund Blair
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