BRISBANE (QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA)
Catholic Leader – Archdiocese of Brisbane
July 12, 2020
Concern and frustration with delayed and failed responses to abuse scandals in Poland culminated in a desperate appeal to Pope Francis to help “rebuild our church.”
More than 600 Polish lay Catholics pooled together enough money to buy an ad in an Italian newspaper at the end of June in a last-ditch effort to make sure the Pope would hear their plea.
But together with assurances of his prayers and acknowledgment of their appeal, the Pope’s steadfast position was repeated – It is going to take everybody in the Catholic Church doing everything possible to make sure Church law is applied, abuse is exposed and those guilty of these serious crimes are punished.
In other words, fighting abuse and ensuring accountability cannot be a one-man operation; this global, insidious problem needs a pope backed by a global army.
Gabriel DyLiacco, a psychotherapist and one of the initial members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, said when Pope Francis met with commission members in 2017, he told them to tell everyone, “‘I cannot do this alone, I need your help’. The Holy Father has no illusions about his capacity as a single person.”
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