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	Dallas-Fort Worth Catholics Stand behind Pope As He Pledges to Address Abuse By Jim Jones Fort Worth Star Telegram April 24, 2010 http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/23/2138954/dallas-fort-worth-catholics-stand.html Fort Worth Bishop Kevin Vann and other local Roman Catholics welcomed Pope Benedict XVI's pledge this week to forcefully prosecute priests accused of sex abuse. During his regular audience in Rome on Wednesday, he told of meeting sex abuse victims in Malta and promised to swiftly deal with pedophile priests. His statement came amid a storm of international criticism, particularly from victim advocates, contending that Benedict has acted too slowly and even covered up sex abuse cases in the past. Many local Catholics, however, stand behind him. "I'm so pleased the pope has made this statement," said Sara Jane O'Brien, a parishioner at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Fort Worth. "This is a time the church really needs that purgation. I'm not smart enough to know how to tell Pope Benedict ... how to do that. But that good-ol'-boy society has got to stop. We are as sick as our secrets." While Benedict gave no specifics about his plans to act against sex abusers, O'Brien is confident the pope will keep his word. "The church has always moved slowly, but we are moving," she said. Vann said his first concern is how all the attention to the problem is stirring up more pain for sex abuse victims. "It's bringing up old wounds," he said. "Secondly, I would say, that since 2001, Pope Benedict has done a great deal in ascribing appropriate penalties to dismiss these predatory priests in a timely fashion." When he came to the United States in 2008, Benedict said he was "deeply ashamed" of the sex abuse scandals in this country. Now Pope Benedict, who turned 83 last week, has come under fire for his own handling of cases. Some fault him for his actions in the 1980s, when he was archbishop of Munich, and approved therapy for a priest later convicted of molesting boys. Others say he was slow to prosecute pedophiles when Benedict, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, headed the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles actions against priests charged with sex abuse. Vann said the church has learned a lot about dealing with pedophilia and that, in some cases, the need for confidentiality in sex abuse cases has been misinterpreted as secrecy. "The important thing, I believe, is not how we made decisions years ago, but where we are now," Vann said. "We need to commit these other things to the past." He noted that Benedict was one of the drafters of a Vatican document, approved in 2001, that established strict norms internationally in dealing with sex abuse of minors. The Vatican recently published guidelines telling all bishops to report all allegations of sexual abuse to police where civil law requires it. That has long been the rule, Vatican officials said, but it was not explicitly written out and was not always followed, the Catholic News Service reported. Some critics have called for Benedict's resignation, and others have said he should be put on trial for what they call inadequate handling of sex abuse allegations. "I don't want to see him resign," said Frank McConville of Boston, a member of Voice of the Faithful, an advocate for sex abuse victims. "Now that he's the pope, he can make the changes that are necessary." McConville said the pope's comments this week about cracking down on sex abuse have been heard before. "He needs to spell it out," McConville said. "The real problem is that the church has embraced this culture of secrecy in dealing with these cases. History says we have never changed that policy. I hope he does change it." Dee Klawiter, a parishioner at St. Andrew, said she is disappointed about seeing new publicity about sex abuse. "I just feel so bad that we are making [headlines] every day, every day, every day in the paper when the Catholic Church does so much good for children," Klawiter said. "There are so many good people in the church, and they do so much. There are so many good priests, and the few who do this make it painful for everybody." Klawiter said some of her neighbors have asked her how she could remain a Catholic. "My neighbors don't know about Catholic Charities and other organizations that are doing so much good," she said. Catholic Gloria Buitron of Bedford said she hopes that Benedict carries out his vow of vigorously prosecuting priests who abuse children. "People depend on priests for advice and a lot of other things," Buitron said. "When a priest does that it lets down the whole congregation and the people. It destroys the church." Bill Reeves, a member of St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church in Arlington, said he believes that Benedict is doing all he can to address the crisis. "I'm hoping that he will put out new directives and that we can do better job of screening priests," Reeves said. Charles D. Lieser of Fort Worth said the attacks on Benedict are unjustified. "People of faith are under attack today, and this is just another example of that," Lieser said after emerging from a weekday Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral in downtown Fort Worth. Benedict has on many occasions addressed sex abuse, Lieser said, including his letter to the Church of Ireland last month in which he promised to remove priests guilty of "sinful and criminal acts" of abuse of children and young people. Three Irish bishops have stepped down as a result of the scandal. "I think he's a wonderful pope," Lieser said. "He's not perfect. But you can throw rocks at anybody."
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