PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star
By Ver F. Pacete
As I See It
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
I LOVE Pope Francis. He is firm in his stand not to tolerate clergy sex abuse. His words were crisp when he said that this is “the shame of the Church” (the church founded by Jesus Christ).
We should be aware that the Vatican has made a compromise on two international agreements prohibiting sexual abuse of children. These two treaties are “The Convention on the Rights of the Child” (ratified by the Vatican in September 1980) and the “Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography” (OP-CRS, ratified on October 2001).
Based on these, we can view the stand of the Church on pedophiles and on the victims (thousands of them) of sexual abuse. Was there concealment on the part of Vatican? Did Vatican acknowledge, rectify, or make amends on what happened? Was there a confirmation that there were children who were victims of Vatican’s agents and priests?
Why is Pope Francis seeking forgiveness? My idol Pope is asking forgiveness because Church leaders did not respond adequately to their reports. We do not generalize Church leaders. We have good cardinals, bishops and priests. Many of them are our personal friends and we salute them. They are the best breed of leaders in our Church. They are exempted in this storytelling.
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.