The church does not have a quick fix to child abuse



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An Australian archbishop admits there will be no quick fix despite Pope Francis' call for a "total battle" against badual abuse of children after the Catholic Church summit left disappointed victims.

The church promised concrete initiatives at a historic conference while Pope Francis vowed that the church would spare no effort to bring the abusers to justice.

"I sincerely call for a fierce fight against the badual abuse committed on minors, badually and elsewhere, by all authorities and individuals, because we are confronted with abominable crimes that must be erased from the surface of the earth, "said the pope in his closing speech.

The archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge, said the four-day summit was more than a festival of talks.

"It will not be a miracle solution," he told reporters in Rome.

"The meeting took place at the end of a long, long and painful phase of the journey.

"I am convinced that these few days guide us, give us an impetus and allow us to feel the task shared around the world."

The president of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference said that it was now clear that there was no room for child abusers in the church, nor in the world.

"In the Catholic Church, there is nowhere to think that he can escape by being abused. There is nowhere to hide and where to go. "

Bishop Coleridge admitted that the question was whether the summit would bring about long-term practical changes in the Catholic Church.

He said that there would be increased transparency and increased access to church records.

Echoing the views of victims and other victims' rights advocates, Blue Knot Foundation President Cathy Kezelman said the summit had resulted in "more things in common" and some concrete proposals.

"Certainly there has been a lot of rhetoric, but there does not seem to be any concrete action and expected roadmap," Dr. Kezelman told APA on Monday.

Dr. Kezelman said the pope focused on the global problem of child badual abuse, but had not proactively addressed what the church had done or had not done. not done to protect the children and support the victims.

"If the bishops and cardinals listened to the victims, they would magically understand the badual abuse of children and it would be different then."

"Responsibility, accountability, transparency – where is responsibility, where is zero tolerance for perpetration and concealment?"

Dr. Kezelman said the summit would, hopefully, spur more action from the church, but that internal and external pressures needed to be exerted for real change to occur.

Australian Associated Press

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