UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Pat Perriello | Mar. 11, 2014 NCR Today
It was inevitable, and the time has come. I need to write my first critical blog post on Pope Francis. It turns out that the Vatican guesthouse, Domus Sanctae Marthae, does not appear to be far enough away from the apostolic palace. Francis is unfortunately starting to sound too much like a pope. The powers that be may be getting to him even at his current residence.
I speak of his one-year anniversary interview with Italian daily Corriere Della Sera. The most troublesome part of that interview is his comments on the issue of child abuse by priests. It is the first time I have ever heard him sound as if he is merely spouting Vatican talking points. Perhaps he was annoyed that the United Nations came out so strongly against the church when he felt they had been trying to cooperate with the U.N. investigation.
In any event, he felt the need to defend Vatican actions and repeat the tired old positions we have been hearing for too long: The church has been transparent; child abuse happens more often among families; and only the church is being attacked. Playing the victim is so unlike Francis. His willingness to downplay the harm priests have done to children in their care is disturbing. He is likely, however, to experience considerable pressure to address the abuse issue more forcefully in the coming months.
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.