AUSTRALIA
news.com.au
MARCH 12, 2017
Megan Neil
Australian Associated Press
The Pope may be retreating from his crackdown on pedophile priests as Vatican bureaucrats do all they can to undermine reform efforts, a senior Australian Catholic official has warned.
The Catholic Church in Australia could end up as a “marginalised rump” unless there is real change to an institutional culture hell-bent on self-protection and self-preservation, Truth Justice and Healing Council CEO Francis Sullivan says.
Mr Sullivan, who has led the Australian church’s response to the four-year child sex abuse royal commission, points to very disturbing recent developments in Rome including reports Pope Francis is starting to go light on some pedophile priests.
“You have to seriously wonder whether this isn’t the Pope backsliding on what has been a strong and determined crackdown on offending priests and the circumstances that allowed abuse to take place,” he said.
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