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https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/vatican-is-in-shame-and-sorrow-over-abuses-in-pennsylvania[h=1]Vatican is in ‘shame and sorrow’ over abuses in Pennsylvania[/h]VATICAN CITY — The Vatican expressed “shame and sorrow” Thursday over a scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report about clergy who raped and molested children in six dioceses in that state, calling the abuse “criminally and morally reprehensible” and says Pope Francis wants to eradicate “this tragic horror.” In a written statement using uncharacteristically strong language for the Holy See even in matters like the long-running abuse scandals staining the U.S. church, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke sought to assure victims that “the pope is on their side.” Pope Francis himself wasn’t quoted in the statement, and there was no mention of demands in the United States among some Roman Catholics for the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington.The grand jury report made public this week accused the cardinal of helping to protect some molester priests while he was bishop of the Pennsylvania city of Pittsburgh.
Burke said the incidents of abuse graphically documented in the report were “betrayals of trust that robbed survivors of their dignity and their faith.” “The church must learn hard lessons from its past, and there should be accountability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur,” he said. Victims and their advocates for decades have lamented that top Catholic churchmen repeatedly put the reputation of the church ahead of obligations to protect children from harm from pedophile priests. In a sign that Pope Francis wants to end that pervasive mind set among church hierachy, including bishops and cardinals, he recently accepted the resignation from cardinal’s rank of former Washington archbishop Theodore McCarrick amid allegations that the American prelate had engaged in sexual misconduct. Resignations by cardinals are extremely rare, and McCarrick’s was the first time a prelate lost his cardinal’s rank in a sexual abuse scandal.
Burke said Francis “understands well how much these crimes can shake the faith and the spirit of believers and reiterates the call to make every effort to create a safe environment for minors and vulnerable adults in the church and in all of society.”
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such a sad story . . .for me this can never be made right of course. Vile behavior like this and the list of victims is so saddening. These rapist and pedophiles and predators needed rooted out at all costs imo.
The reality and the right thing to do is that MINIMUM, EVERY SINGLE thing in these cases needs investigated. The six Catholic dioceses all need shut down, fully investigated, audited, raided etc etc and in the end there will be logical grounds for none of these six to exist as currently constructed. Any individual churches free of wrong doing may in the future under new control. This is what should happen and at the FULL support of the POPE if he is sincerely on the side of the victims. Accepting resignations is NOT enough . . WORDS . . are not enough . . . . All politicians and law makers, people in power and victims(if they can handle it) should all push for this . . . its pathetic and paints bad light on the many good people in and around the catholic church.
While im christian but not catholic i do like this pope, ill be interested to see what he actually does.... along with the lawmakers and politicians of my state