ROME (ITALY)
Agence France-Presse
February 25, 2019
By Fanny Carrier
At the end of three days of debate, Pope Francis promised an “all-out battle” against the scourge that has done so much damage to the Church’s reputation worldwide.
Victims’ groups, however, reacted sharply to the tone of his speech and what they said was a lack of concrete measures.
“The pope has announced a battle against child abuse but he has the weakest weapons imaginable,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org.
As a mark of good faith, the Vatican announced an interministerial meeting Monday on the protection of minors.
Urging more tangible progress, BishopAccountability.org and fellow campaigning group End Clergy Abuse (ECA) have drawn up a 21-point plan of action for the pope.
Their “Points of Action for Pope Francis” was intended to sharpen the Vatican’s good intentions, as the pontiff set out in his points of reflection at the start of the summit.
“These aren’t reflection points, these are action points, battle plans,” said Peter Isely, spokesman for Ending Clergy Abuse.
Referring to the pope, Doyle said: “If he were to do the 21 points in this list, he would end this scourge once and for all.”
Their plan of action pulls no punches.
Any cleric found guilty of even a single act of child sexual abuse should be permanently removed from the priesthood, they said — as should any bishop or religious superior helping cover it up.
All abusers or suspected abusers should be reported to the civil authorities, and any abuse-related files handed over to them, the campaigners added.
The Church should also draw up a public list of all abusers, past and present, they said.
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.