VATICAN CITY (VATICAN CITY)
Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News) [Hong Kong]
November 13, 2025
By Virginia Saldanha
The head of the Anglican Mother Church did not hesitate to punish his own brother for abusing an underage woman
The release of Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice — a memoir of her abuse by billionaire Jeffrey Epstein — tells the story of how he got away with his crimes with hardly any accountability.
The book, published on Oct. 21, aims to raise awareness about sexual abuse and support other survivors. Giuffre and other young women abused and trafficked by Epstein to his powerful friends around the world were denied their day in court, to tell their abuser how they feel about his abuse of them.
Shortly after he was convicted and condemned to 39 years in prison, Epstein killed himself in his prison cell on Aug. 10, 2019, thus denying his victims an opportunity to confront him, which could have been an important step in the process of healing from the abuse suffered by them.
The former Prince Andrew was one of those “powerful friends” who abused the underage Giuffre. But he categorically denied having even met her, despite her having produced a photograph with him.
As the clamor for his extradition to the United States to face charges grew louder in the United Kingdom, his brother, King Charles, decided to strip him of all his royal titles and positions, rendering him a commoner. It’s a punishment well deserved.
Pope Leo XVI, who recently met King Charles, prayed with him and exchanged titles and gifts, ought to take a page out of his moral book.
Like Andrew, numerous clergymen in the Catholic Church stand accused of abusing children and vulnerable women and adults in the Church across the world. But they continue to deny it and hide behind the Church’s centuries-old stance of abnegation.
This is doubly hurting survivors and denying them healing and the fullness of life, which is the raison d’etre of the Church’s very existence.
King Charles, who is the supreme governor of the Anglican Mother Church, did not hesitate to punish his own brother for abusing an underage woman. But the Catholic Church has continued to deny the existence of abuse within the ranks of its clergy across the world. It shields them from punishment and removal from office, contrary to what Jesus taught.
Jesus said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.”
Yet the Catholic Church has persisted in its cover-ups and turning away from the cries of survivors of sex abuse in the Church.
Yes, Pope Francis tried his best by organizing the Meeting of Bishops in 2019 and issuing a motu proprio that followed to deal with abusers. Yet, no one seems to be listening.
In the US, many victims turned to the courts for justice, which ended up bankrupting several dioceses. But in India, where our legal system is excessively slow and inefficient, hoping to get justice by going up against someone who can wield power and money is futile.
As demonstrated in the Epstein case, power and money can work to protect a criminal from anything, and Epstein kept reminding his victims of this reality.
Epstein used his wealth to lure victims. In the Church, the spiritual power wielded by clergy helps them not only to groom victims, but also to protect themselves from being prosecuted. The majority of believers tend to believe the clergyman rather than the victim, especially if she happens to be a woman.
We have been taught to put a priest on a pedestal because he functions in the name of Christ. So, people believe he cannot do wrong. Survivors find it hard to be believed, so they stay silent and are traumatized for life.
Giuffre took her own life even before her book was published because she was not given justice. She did not live to see Andrew punished. Such was her trauma.
When will the Catholic Church recognize the trauma of the victims of clergy sex abuse and deal with the perpetrators severely, thus cleansing the priesthood of these criminals?
I do hope Pope Leo, who has already faced this issue as bishop in Peru, will read Giuffre’s posthumous memoir.
Now he has the opportunity to follow what King Charles did to his brother and punish all the clergymen, even if they deny their wrongdoing. There is also enough scope to do his own fact-finding.
What is important is that the Church must be seen to do justice to its victims of abuse so that they can have the life in abundance (Jn 10:10) promised by Jesus.
*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.