AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times
Opinion
Judy Courtin
Only secular justice will help the victims of clergy sexual abuse.
The Vatican is surely ablaze with excitement and expectation. The imminent influx of holy men in a sea of flowing crimson cassocks and skull-caps makes for a powerful picture.
This papal convocation of cardinals will soon meet and greet, grace its way into the Sistine Chapel, factionalise, debate and make its decision. Then, with that puff of white smoke, the new pontiff will be known.
One topic that is on everyone’s lips with this atypical and rather curious resignation of the Pope is whether or not the sexual abuse crisis within the church is related to his decision to resign and whether the newly elected leader will make any difference and deliver some justice to victims.
There will certainly be millions of Catholics wanting changes in the church, changes that are many and challenging for the conservative, misogynistic and headstrong Catholic hierarchy pursuing centuries-old male doctrines. Much of the world’s Catholics, not least children, women and gays, are marginalised and muzzled and treated with disdain and contempt by the church.
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