ROME
National Catholic Reporter
by John L. Allen Jr. | Mar. 5, 2013
Rome
In any walk of life, campaign season always brings people out of the woodwork with a point to make or an axe to grind, and Rome in the run-up to the looming conclave is certainly no exception.
Over the last few days, people from a bewildering variety of backgrounds and perspectives have been trying to make themselves heard above the din, some quite effectively, others coming off as just downright wierd.
Among the former, the Survivors’ Network of Those Abused by Priests, the main advocacy group for victims of clerical abuse in the United States, has been holding regular press conferences at Rome’s Orange Hotel and issuing statements on issues as they emerge, such as the resignation of Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien of Scotland. SNAP runs a smart, fast press operation, and has emerged as the most important critical voice on the sex abuse crisis in the pre-conclave period.
More brazen was a twenty-something Italian activist who showed up last Thursday in front of a large TV platform at the end of the Via della Conciliazione, the broad street that leads to St. Peter’s Square, just before the pope was due to lift off in his helicopter and head for Castel Gandolfo.
At that moment, the platform was full of anchors and guests for various global networks, all commenting on the pope’s departure. They got a surprise when the young man stripped down to his boxer shorts, despite chilly temperatures, hoisted a bullhorn, and began shouting that “Ratzinger covers up for pedophiles!”
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