UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Posted by Peter Isely on March 13, 2013
There is no greater example of courageous reform in the history of the Catholic church than St. Francis of Assisi. He lived with and demanded justice for those in our society that have been victimized and destroyed by the powerful. During his time he stood up an challenged bishops and cardinals and the Pope.
Thousands of victims of childhood rape and sexual assault by priests have been, like St. Francis, courageously coming forward around the world and demanding that the Catholic Church stop the cover up of sex crimes by clergy.
Pope Francis must, as his very first act, decree the zero tolerance of sexual abuse of children by priests. This one act would, in a single stroke of his pen, protect millions of children from harm, bring justice to hundreds of thousands of victims of clergy sexual abuse, and turn the church finally on a path towards true healing, recovery and reform.
Amazingly, across most of the world today if you are a priest and have been found by your bishop to have raped or sexually assaulted a child, you can remain in the priesthood and in ministry, your crimes left secret and unpunished.
Most of these child molesting priests are secretly transferred into new assignment by their local bishops, with the approval or indifference of the Vatican. An alarming number were also transferred across state and international boundaries, deploying the unique geographic reach of the church and its command structure, which remains steeped in secrecy, to facilitate the concealment and flight of child sex offenders. In essence, criminalizing a part of the Catholic church as an organization. This is especially true of religious orders, like Pope Francis’ own Jesuit order. Pope Francis has a special responsibility to hold accountable Jesuit official around the world who has covered up child sex crimes.
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