Abuse Survivor: Pope’s Devil Comments ‘outrageous’
Catholic Whistleblowers and Road to Recovery, Inc.
Pope Francis’ latest slam on church critics as cohorts of Satan stunned survivors of priest sex abuse and their advocates, who called the pontiff’s remarks “outrageous” on the eve of his clergy summit on the long-running scandal. “It’s outrageous … He’s re-victimizing and re-traumatizing the very people he’s supposed to be meeting about,” said Robert Hoatson, co-founder of Road to Recovery. “Instead of criticizing people like us, he should be welcoming us into the dialogue and following the recommendations that we make.” Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, an advocate for victims of sexual abuse by priests, said he’s “not surprised the pope would try to portray the Catholic Church as the victim,” but that it’s “really going to reopen a lot of wounds for clerical sex abuse victims and is very harmful to those victims.” Church critics and advocates for victims of priest sex abuse told the Herald they have little hope for concrete reform to come out of the four-day summit on clerical sex abuse, which begins Thursday and is set to draw about 190 members of bishops’ conferences, religious orders and Vatican offices for lectures and workshops on preventing and investigating sex abuse, as well as caring for victims. The summit comes three months after the Vatican pushed the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to delay voting last November on proposed steps to address clergy sex abuse. Victims who met with summit organizers on Wednesday demanded transparency and accountability from the church. Among them was Phil Saviano, who urged the Vatican “break the code of silence” and release the names of abusive priests. Hoatson said the defrocking of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick last week, seen as a rare high-level act of accountability by the church, was also “an indication that cardinals and bishops are involved not only in the cover-up, but in the practice of clergy sex abuse.” But Hoatson said the church is “inherently incapable” of policing itself and that “we need outside forces to hold them accountable.” Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability.org said she has “very low” expectations for the summit and that “the source of change in the church is going to come from the outside” — like the attorneys general who are investigating church sex abuse. Zach Hiner, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the church needs to implement “proven sex abuse prevention programs” and teach bishops how to cooperate with local law enforcement when they do receive allegations of abuse. But, Hiner said, the pope’s devil comments are “a sign that (survivors) are not taken seriously, that they’re not fully understood, and that it’s not something Pope Francis and the other cardinals in attendance particularly care about.” “It’s looking like it’s just going to be another few days of praying about what went wrong,” Hiner said. Meanwhile, sex abuse survivor Olan Horne, 59, of Chester, said he intended to go on a hunger strike at midnight Wednesday until the Vatican acknowledges receipt of messages from families of victims he gave to Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley’s office to deliver to Pope Francis. Herald wire services contributed to this report. February 20, 2019 STATEMENT ISSUED BY: CATHOLIC WHISTLEBLOWERS AND ROAD TO RECOVERY, INC. REGARDING POPE FRANCIS’ COMMENTS ABOUT THOSE WHO CRITICIZE THE CHURCH BEING LIKE THE DEVIL On February 20, 2019, on the eve of the international Papal summit on clergy sexual abuse, Pope Francis issued a statement indicating that those who criticize the Church are engaged in the work of the devil. The Holy Father’s words are unfortunate because, no doubt, he was referring to victim/survivors, advocates, and supporters who for decades have attempted to hold the Church accountable, especially members of the hierarchy who have covered-up, obfuscated, participated in, and enabled the sexual abuse of children. It is outrageous that Pope Francis, after recently defrocking Cardinal Theodore Mc Carrick for his heinous sexual abuse of children and seminarians, would in any way blame anyone except himself, his predecessors, and his colleagues in the College of Bishops for the scandal of clergy sexual abuse that continues to infect the Catholic Church. Doesn’t Pope Francis realize that the “devil” is within, not without? Pope Francis has indicated that his expectations are low for the international Papal summit with bishops from around the world which begins on February 21, 2019. The Holy Father must revise his expectations, for if nothing substantive comes from the summit, the credibility of the Pope might be lost forever. Unless Pope Francis and the bishops leave the summit on Sunday, February 24, 2019 with concrete solutions to very serious issues of clergy sexual abuse and accountability of the hierarchy, the Holy Father might be called upon to resign. Catholic Whistleblowers and Road to Recovery, Inc., two advocacy organizations that assist victim/survivors of clergy sexual abuse and declare a preferential option for victim/survivors and their pursuit of justice, urge Pope Francis not to be distracted by foolish and unnecessary comments about “devil” critics; rather, he is urged to hold himself and the bishops of the world accountable for allowing the scourge of clergy sexual abuse to continue and flourish for so long. Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., President Road to Recovery, Inc. Livingston, New Jersey 07039 862-368-2800 roberthoatson@gmail.com Rev. James E. Connell, J.C.D. Catholic Whistleblowers Milwaukee, Wisconsin (414) 940-8054 Contact: connell.jim951@gmail.com
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