VATICAN CITY
Christian Science Monitor
By Nick Squires, Correspondent / April 5, 2013
Rome
Pope Francis called on the Catholic Church to take decisive action against sexually abusive priests, to bring offenders to justice, and to protect children, in his first remarks on an issue that dominated the papacy of his predecessor and is likely to loom large in his own reign.
But groups representing victims of clerical sex abuse dismissed his remarks as empty rhetoric and called into question whether he was really determined to tackle the scandals head on.
Pope Francis, who was elected just three weeks ago, discussed the sex abuse scandals – which have severely harmed the image of the Roman Catholic Church since the first revelations emerged in Boston in 2002 – during a meeting with Archbishop Gerhard Muller, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a Vatican department which investigates cases of sexual abuse and decides if priests should be defrocked.
“The Holy Father in particular asked that the Congregation, continuing the line adopted by Benedict XVI, act decisively in cases of sexual abuse, promoting above all measures to protect minors, help for those who in the past suffered such violence and the necessary procedures against those who are guilty,” the Vatican said in a statement.
It was vital to combat the scourge of sexually abusive priests in order to restore the “credibility” of the church, the pope said.
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