TORONTO (CANADA)
Toronto Star [Toronto, Canada]
January 27, 2022
It should be of no surprise that former Pope Benedict XVI is accused of wrongdoing in his handling of sexual abuse cases when he was a Cardinal in Germany.
For decades the Catholic Church ignored or covered up reports of child sexual abuse by priests.
Often the offending priests were moved to another diocese where they could resume their abuse, this time of other children.
What the Catholic Church didn’t do, and should have done, was to turn over the offending priests to the police.
It is only under the current Pope Francis that Church laws have been changed to criminalize sexual abuse.
It would be interesting to know how many offending priests have since been reported to the police.
The Church’s historical record would suggest that the numbers reported would be very few.
What a disgrace.
Archie Gillis, Toronto