BishopAccountability.org
 
  Pope Addresses Child Abuse by Priests

By Guy Dinmore
Financial Times
March 17, 2010

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e9566862-31c4-11df-9ef5-00144feabdc0,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Fe9566862-31c4-11df-9ef5-00144feabdc0.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bishop-accountability.org%2FAbuseTracker%2F

Pope Benedict, under fire for the Vatican’s handling of a widening scandal of child sex abuse cases by priests across Europe, told worshippers in St Peter’s square on Wednesday that he hoped his forthcoming letter to Irish Catholics on the crisis would help bring “repentance, healing and renewal”.

The pontiff, however, made no direct reference to the unfolding controversy in his native Germany, where earlier in the day Angela Merkel, chancellor, told parliament that society must “find out everything that has happened”. She also suggested compensation should be paid to the victims.

German Catholics are growing increasingly impatient with the pope’s reluctance to address the crisis in public following more than 300 allegations of sexual abuse committed by priests – over decades and mostly in schools – that have surfaced in recent months.

 
 

Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.