Mon, Feb 25, 2019 page1

• ‘Wrath of God’ for sexual abusers

  ‘TEPID PROMISES’: Abuse victims said the pope’s speech, in which he said that abusers would be brought to justice and stronger guidelines issued, was a ‘stunning letdown’

  • Reuters, VATICAN CITY
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  Pope Francis, ending a landmark conference on sexual abuse of minors by clergy, yesterday called for an “all-out battle” against a crime he called abominable and that should be “erased from the face of the earth,” vowing to confront abusers with “the wrath of God” and end the cover-ups by their superiors.

  At the end of a Mass in the frescoed Sala Regia of Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, the pope promised that guidelines used by national bishops conferences to prevent abuse and punish perpetrators would be reviewed and strengthened.

  However, advocates for victims expressed deep disappointment with Francis’ message, saying he merely repeated old promises and offered few concrete proposals.

  

  Pope Francis, center, takes part in a Mass yesterday in the Sala Regia, one of the grand reception rooms of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.

  Photo: AFP

  Speaking for more than half an hour, Francis vowed that the Roman Catholic Church would “spare no effort” to bring abusers to justice and will not cover up or underestimate abuse.

  Francis dedicated much of the first part of the speech to statistics from the UN and other organizations showing that most sexual abuse of children takes place in families.

  He also offered a global review of the broader societal problem of sexual tourism and online pornography, in a bid to contextualize what he said was once a taboo subject.

  “We are thus facing a universal problem, tragically present almost everywhere and affecting everyone. Yet we need to be clear, that while gravely affecting our societies as a whole, this evil is in no way less monstrous when it takes place within the Church,” he said.

  Anne Barrett-Doyle of the US-based clergy abuse tracking group bishopaccountability.org, called the speech a “stunning letdown” that did not sufficiently address the grief and outrage of the faithful.

  “As the world’s Catholics cry out for concrete change, the Pope instead provides tepid promises, all of which we’ve heard before,” she said in a statement.

  “Especially distressing was the pope’s familiar rationalization that abuse happens in all sectors of society... We needed him to offer a bold and decisive plan. He gave us instead defensive, recycled rhetoric,” she said.

  The Vatican says it would formulate follow-up measures to make sure all bishops return home knowing how to put anti-abuse procedures into place.

  With the pope reading the conferences’ final address, the homily of the Mass that formally ended the gathering of about 200 top church leaders was delivered by Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, Australia, whose words were in many ways more pungent that the pope’s.

  “We will not go unpunished,” Coleridge said.

  “In abuse and its concealment, the powerful [of the Church] show themselves not men of heaven but men of earth,” he said.

  “At times, however, we have seen victims and survivors as the enemy, but we have not loved them, we have not blessed them. In that sense, we have been our own worst enemy,” Coleridge said.

  On Saturday, a nun and a female journalist addressed the conference to deliver tough criticism of the Catholic Church, accusing it of hypocrisy and covering up horrendous crimes against children.

  Additional reporting by AP
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