said Nundu JR
JF-Expert Member
- Mar 9, 2016
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Distrust and anger shadow Vatican summit on sex abuse
Pope Francis is set to open a four-day summit to fight the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy amid scepticism and anger over the mishandling of decades-long sex abuse cases.
The unprecedented event beginning on Thursday at the Vatican was organised in response to a new spate of scandals in the United States, Chile and elsewhere, which exacerbated the Catholic Church's decades-old paedophile priests crisis.
Ahead of the meeting, which will bring together nearly 200 high-ranking Catholic Church figures, Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the archbishop of Mumbai and one of the summit organisers, was also forced to admit that he failed to act immediately on sex abuse allegations under his watch, according to a BBC investigation.
One of the summit's stated aims is to raise awareness of a global crisis in parts of the world, like much of Asia and Africa, where the issue is barely registering.
The summit's website calls it a "meeting in solidarity, humility, and penitence."
Some 114 head bishops from national Catholic Church organisations were invited to take part in the event and urged to meet abuse survivors before heading to Rome.
The summit is not expected to bring fundamental reforms called for by abuse victims, such as mandatory expulsion from the clergy of any predator priest and bishop who protects them.
The meeting is seen as a key test of Francis's leadership. The pope's record on fighting abuse is under close scrutiny amid continuing criticism of his papacy from conservative circles.
The 82-year-old hopes to raise awareness through prayers, speeches, working groups and testimonies from victims.
"My hope would be that people see this as a turning point," said American Cardinal Blase Cupich, one of the pope's trusted allies in the US and one of the summit's four organisers.
The US Catholic Church has been shaken by one of the gravest crises in its history, with the defrocking last week by Pope Francis of a former cardinal - Theodore McCarrick - over accusations he sexually abused a teenager 50 years ago
Pope Francis is set to open a four-day summit to fight the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy amid scepticism and anger over the mishandling of decades-long sex abuse cases.
The unprecedented event beginning on Thursday at the Vatican was organised in response to a new spate of scandals in the United States, Chile and elsewhere, which exacerbated the Catholic Church's decades-old paedophile priests crisis.
Ahead of the meeting, which will bring together nearly 200 high-ranking Catholic Church figures, Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the archbishop of Mumbai and one of the summit organisers, was also forced to admit that he failed to act immediately on sex abuse allegations under his watch, according to a BBC investigation.
One of the summit's stated aims is to raise awareness of a global crisis in parts of the world, like much of Asia and Africa, where the issue is barely registering.
The summit's website calls it a "meeting in solidarity, humility, and penitence."
Some 114 head bishops from national Catholic Church organisations were invited to take part in the event and urged to meet abuse survivors before heading to Rome.
The summit is not expected to bring fundamental reforms called for by abuse victims, such as mandatory expulsion from the clergy of any predator priest and bishop who protects them.
The meeting is seen as a key test of Francis's leadership. The pope's record on fighting abuse is under close scrutiny amid continuing criticism of his papacy from conservative circles.
The 82-year-old hopes to raise awareness through prayers, speeches, working groups and testimonies from victims.
"My hope would be that people see this as a turning point," said American Cardinal Blase Cupich, one of the pope's trusted allies in the US and one of the summit's four organisers.
The US Catholic Church has been shaken by one of the gravest crises in its history, with the defrocking last week by Pope Francis of a former cardinal - Theodore McCarrick - over accusations he sexually abused a teenager 50 years ago
