UNITED STATES
Examiner
March 22, 2014
Judy Byington
With numerous charges of priest sex abuse against children mounting on the Catholic Church, Pope Francis’ meeting last Wed with Actor Russell Crowe on his new movie “Noah” may have been the only positive point in his week.
A scathing Feb UN report criticizing Pope Francis for concealing sex abuse crimes on Catholic child sex abuse survivors now numbering in the millions, didn’t seem to affect Vatican policies that appeared designed to protect Catholic authorities, not their child victims:
· On March 14 Pennsylvania Roman Catholic Priest Carlos Urrutigoity, who was transferred, again, to another parish after claims he forced children to have sex, was promoted to the number two position in his new Paraguay diocese. Former Bishop Joseph Martino of the Diocese of Scranton transferred Urrutigoity after he was named in several court cases as routinely sleeping with boys in his care, calling it spiritual guidance. Urrutigoity has faced several such transfers. The US Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) were incensed.
· On March 19 the Catholic Church headed for another State Supreme Court battle. Mary Caplan, co-director of the New York City chapter of SNAP, criticized New York Cardinal Dolan’s challenge to a law which allowed victims to report crimes up to 30 years after a their 18th birthday. She said parishioners shouldn’t pay the Catholic Church to re-victimize victims.
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