UNITED STATES
News Everyday
By R. Siva Kumar(writer@newseveryday.com)
David Clohessy was lured to a Missouri trip and abused by a Roman Catholic priest. It was only after decades that he became the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.
Last Friday morning, he got frustrated after reading Pope Francis’ 264-page document—“Amoris Laetitia,” or “The Joy of Love,”—asking church leaders to open their arms in welcome to gay, lesbian, divorced or remarried followers, but not mentioning clergy abuse survivors.
The group is very upset over the Pope’s inaction. The members point out that Pope Francis tackles everything from climate change to Cuban diplomacy, but does not mention sex crimes and cover-ups in the church.
“It’s very tough for us to understand how seemingly every other issue takes precedence – especially because on everything else, the pope really is powerless,” said Clohessy, who lives in St. Louis. “But instead of taking real action that makes a real difference, he’s content to do, and, in fact is masterful at, these meaningless feel-good gestures that are essentially public relations maneuvers.”
“Amoris Laetitia” mentions the word “abuse” just six times, and does not refer to the sex scandal in the Catholic Church at all. The Pope merely mentions that “the sexual abuse of children is all the more scandalous when it occurs in places where they ought to be most safe, particularly in families, schools, communities and Christian institutions.”
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