MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times
David Unze, dunze@stcloudtimes.com July 7, 2014
Pope Francis meeting with survivors of clergy sex abuse and expressing sorrow for the crimes committed by priests is a positive step, but he needs to do more, according to a St. Cloud-area lawyer who is represents survivors of abuse.
“It’s like everything else,” said attorney Michael Bryant. “It’s going to come down to what action is taken as a follow-up. There’s a couple different times in history where the church has given lip service to feeling bad about it. They should feel bad about it. It’s a horrible incident. The reality is, what do they do about it?”
Bryant represents a man suing St. John’s Abbey and an abbey monk who is accused of abuse. He said he has more hope that Pope Francis will have a positive impact on the issue of abusive priests and protecting children than his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.
Pope Francis met and prayed with six European victims of pedophile priests for the first time Monday and went further than any of his predecessors by vowing to hold bishops accountable for their handling of pedophile priests.
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