AUSTRALIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Posted by Nicky Davis on April 11, 2013
The Wall Street Journal this week revealed further evidence that Pope Francis is unlikely to break with longstanding Vatican tradition and surrender secret Vatican files on Australian child sexual abuse cases to the Royal Commission.
Despite claims of a humbler, simpler regime under Francis, there is growing evidence the new pope is as incapable or unwilling as other Cardinals of putting the safety of children above protecting the interests of the institution.
It is hard to see Pope Francis complying with the Royal Commission’s requests for this vital evidence, when, as head of the Argentinian Bishops’ Conference, he could not even comply with the Vatican’s own request to to prepare guidelines for dealing with allegations of abuse.
Catholic officials have been ignoring, hiding and enabling child sex crimes for decades, if not centuries. Compared to what could and should be done to prevent these crimes, writing an abuse policy is an extraordinarily minimal move.
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