Victims of sexual abuse by priests on Tuesday demanded Pope Benedict take concrete steps to discipline clerics who have molested children.
World Bulletin
June 9, 2010
http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=59706
Victims of sexual abuse by priests on Tuesday demanded Pope Benedict take concrete steps to discipline clerics who have molested children, saying a public apology they expect this week from the pope will not be enough.
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The U.S.-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said the pope was expected to use a June 9-11 meeting of the world's priests at the Vatican to issue an apology over a widening sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church.
But the group said any apology was meaningless unless the pontiff also set a "zero-tolerance policy" for paedophile priests or church officials involved in any cover-up and turned over files on abuse cases to the authorities.
"We're going to hear a lot about forgiveness, but we want to talk about justice," Peter Isely, a SNAP leader who said he had been abused by a priest, told a news conference near the Vatican. The group held up pictures of Church officials and displayed childhood photos of abuse victims.
The 83-year-old German pontiff, facing the worst crisis of his five-year papacy, has said the Church has to seek "forgiveness" from abuse victims.
SNAP said more children risked assault by priests unless the pope acted now.
"This isn't a problem of the past," said Barbara Dorris, another group leader. "Children around the world are being abused right now."
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