Priests in 4,000 Sex Assaults
By Nick Pisa
Shock 10yr kid toll MORE than 4,000 cases of Catholic priests sexually abusing children have been investigated in ten years. A top churchman admitted it is a "dramatic increase" on the 3,000 in 50 years previously suspected. Cardinal Joseph William Levada revealed at a Vatican conference the shocking extent of the worldwide scandal. He told 100 international clergy that the Catholic church has an obligation to report paedophile priests to the authorities. There have been cases in Ireland and elsewhere of bishops "dragging their heels" in naming offenders. Cardinal Levada said Pope Benedict XVI wanted help for abuse victims to be a priority. Irish victim Marie Collins, 65, told how she was raped by a chaplain when she was 13. She said: "It is impossible for me to forget even after 50 years. "Those hands that abused my body were the same ones that the following day offered me Holy Communion." PAEDO priest Alexander Walsh, 58, faces a long jail sentence after being convicted at Stoke- on-Trent Crown Court of 21 sex offences in 18 years against boys aged eight to 16.
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.