Pressure on Italian Catholic church to face child sexual abuse reckoning Unofficial estimates say country may have highest number of victims of paedophile priests in world Pope Francis during his weekly general audience. ‘The only way for an inquiry to happen would be if Francis orders it,’ says journalist Emiliano Fittipaldi. Photograph: Vatican Media/ANSA/Zuma Press/Rex/Shutterstock Angela Giuffrida in Rome Sat 12 Feb 2022 Italy to face a reckoning on child sexual abuse amid unofficial estimates that the country could have the highest number of victims of paedophile priests in the world. Damning investigations into the scale of sexual abuse and cover-up allegations have dealt a severe blow to the church’s reputation in the US, Ireland, Chile, France and, more recently, Germany. But in Italy the issue has been mostly buried. A group of religious and lay associations have now come together to push for an independent inquiry and to urge the Italian state to enact tougher laws to bring paedophile priests to justice and come up with a plan to protect children from sexual abuse by clergy. The group is using the hashtag #ItalyChurchToo and will outline its objectives during an online event on 15 February. “The problem in Italy is enormous but it has been hidden,” said Cristina Balestrini, who leads a group for abuse victims and their families. “For example, two of the priests who celebrated my marriage turned out to be paedophiles. Then there was the priest who … raped my son. So that makes three paedophile priests, just in my small world.” The appeal has been given impetus by the publication of independent reports in France and Germany, where the former pope Benedict was criticised for allegedly failing to take action against four priests accused of child sexual abuse when he was archbishop of Munich between 1977 and 1982. Benedict this week apologised for “grievous faults” in his handling of those sexual abuse cases, but his legal team denied any personal wrongdoing, provoking fury from victims. Sexual abuse victims lament lack of full apology from former pope Benedict Read more Hans Zollner, a German priest on Pope Francis’s commission to protect minors, has on several occasions in recent months called for the spotlight to be turned to Italy. “We need these investigations to be done and published in an objective way,” he told La Stampa. “And we need it in Italy too, that way we can look reality in the face and not continue to deny something that gets continuously denied.” Although the issue is being discussed by the Italian church, bishops are divided over whether the investigation should be independently commissioned. Gualtiero Bassetti, who steps down as president of the Italian Episcopal Conference in May, has spoken in favour of an investigation, as have two of his potential successors, albeit an internal one. “The reason they’re now saying ‘oh, we’re thinking about doing something’ is because they want to control the narrative,” said Robert Mickens, the Rome-based editor of the English-language edition of the Catholic daily newspaper La Croix. “The initiative by the associations is scaring them to death, and they’re thinking ‘let’s do something that we can contain’, because they know that if they open it up to the outside world, they’re screwed.” There are no official figures on the number of clerical abuse victims in Italy, but the main victims’ association, Rete L’Abuso, has recorded 360 cases of priests accused or convicted over the last 15 years. A treaty between the Italian government and the Vatican means the majority of child abuse investigations in Italy are carried out behind a wall of secrecy within the Holy See’s jurisdiction. If found guilty by a Vatican court, most priests end up being transferred to a new diocese rather than being defrocked or jailed. Of those found guilty by an Italian court, few are imprisoned. More..... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...olic-church-face-child-sexual-abuse-reckoning
As a Roman Catholic growing up in the NYC area...thank you for bringing this up, I gave up a long time ago.
%% I still use my NEB Bible. a catholic favorite. I dont spend a lot of time in any church that pretends any man or leader 's opinion is equal to the Word/Holy Bible.
Ah yes, that good old Word of God. The great reservoir of moral values. No question of condoning or promoting child sexual abuse in the Bible or 'God forbid' encouraging slavery even... Exodus 21 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.
The slippery slimey white shoe shuffling Jesus freak brigade will have an excuse to cover this. Doesn't matter what 'Gods Word' the bible says, they have an argument up their sleeves condoning the bible nonsense. True cultists, truly brainwashed! "Ye shall have no idols"....the bible is their idol.