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  Pope's Visit Met by Protests

The Euronews
September 22, 2011

http://www.euronews.net/2011/09/22/pope-s-visit-met-by-protests/

[with video]

A small group of protesters in Berlin took advantage of the the Pope's visit to voice their support for victims of abuse within the Catholic Church.

Carrying banners and photos of victims they gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

The demonstrators were from associations and initiatives from allover Germany and further afield.

Barbara Blaine is the President of the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests.

"We believe that the Catholic Church officials have done a horrific job and that they continue to harbour sexual predators and that they endanger children across the globe."

Brinkmann Henselder from the group Children in Homes, was a victim himself.

"The payments which the church have made do not make up for what the people have experienced. I've been suffering for forty years from my five years of abuse by a Catholic priest, and that cannot be overcome using financial means."

Earlier Pope Benedict had appealed to Catholic Germans not to leave the church. Record numbers of worshippers have left the faith in recent years.

The demonstration organisers say they expect many thousands more to protest in the coming days.

 
 

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