BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
January 20, 2018
By Evan Allen
Cardinal Sean O’Malley issued a strongly worded statement Saturday reproaching Pope Francis for the pontiff’s accusations in Chile last week that victims of a pedophile priest in that country were slandering a bishop they say covered up the case.
“Words that convey the message ‘if you cannot prove your claims then you will not be believed’ abandon those who have suffered reprehensible criminal violations of their human dignity and relegate survivors to discredited exile,” O’Malley said.
Local abuse victims and advocates, however, said that it is action, not talk, that is important, and the cardinal’s words did not go far enough.
“People in the survivor community are not looking for prayers and words of sympathy,” said Phil Saviano, an abuse victim who founded the New England chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “We’re looking for them to actually do something.”
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