UNITED STATES
Myrtle Beach Online
By MITCHELL LANDSBERG – Los Angeles Times
Time and again in his papacy, Pope Benedict XVI spoke out against the scourge of child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, using words that would have been scarcely imaginable by his predecessors.
It was, he said, “evil,” “gravely immoral,” “a terrifying sign of the times.” He spoke of the “deep shame” and “humiliation” the scandal had brought on the Catholic Church. He apologized to victims.
Not long into his tenure, Benedict essentially banished an influential Mexican priest, Father Marcial Maciel, who had long been suspected of sexually abusing seminarians and boys in his care and had fathered at least three children. Benedict ordered investigations into sexual abuse and issued guidelines in 2010 that made it easier to punish abusive priests.
For all that, there were those who were ultimately disappointed by the pope’s record on the issue. Benedict never acquiesced to demands that he open Vatican records to outside scrutiny and almost never took action against those just below him – his bishops and cardinals – who failed to protect children from abusive priests.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.