State of Emergency at the Vatican over Sex Abuse

By Celine Hoyeau, Nicolas Seneze and Gauthier Vaillant
La Croix International
February 23, 2019

https://international.la-croix.com/news/state-of-emergency-at-the-vatican-over-sex-abuse/9518?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=e-mail&utm_content=22-02-2019&utm_campaign=newsletter_crx_lci&PMID=0993ce75a05e850a9ee6d7668f102aad

On the first day of the summit, organizers challenged the 190 participants over the urgency of the decisions required. (Photo by Vatican Media/Reuters)

"From the age of 15 I had sexual relations with a priest. This lasted for 13 years. I got pregnant three times and he made me have an abortion three times, quite simply because he did not want to use condoms or contraceptives. At first I trusted him so much that I did not know he could abuse me. I was afraid of him, and every time I refused to have sex with him, he would beat me."The young African woman, who shared her testimony with the bishops assembled for the meeting on the protection of minors on Feb. 21, left nothing of her Calvary experience to the imagination.Urgent decisions neededOnly her voice echoed through the Synod hall, because – like other victims from Asia and the United States of America – she wished to remain anonymous for her own security as she expressed the horror of the abuse she suffered and the Church's...