VATICAN CITY (AP/WHDH) — Pope Francis has issued a letter to Catholics around the world condemning the “crime” of priestly sexual abuse and cover-up and demanding accountability in response to new revelations in the United States of decades of misconduct by the Catholic Church.
Francis begged forgiveness for the pain suffered by victims and said lay Catholics must be involved in any effort to root out abuse and cover-up. He blasted the self-referential clerical culture that has been blamed for the abuse crisis, with church leaders more concerned for their reputation than the safety of children.
Francis wrote: “We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them.”
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represented several victims sexually abused in the Boston area by priests, says the Pope’s statement “does not explain why tens of thousands of children were knowingly sexually abused over decades, what actual measures will be taken to effectuate change and why transparency through the global release of Catholic Church documents will not occur.”
“Clergy sexual abuse cases do not ‘belong to the past’ but are here and now for victims who have been sexually abused and for those victims being sexually abused today,” he added.
Catholics around the nation are shaken by the latest news of priests sexually abusing children.
“As a Catholic, I’m ashamed,” parishioner Ellen Ahmad said. “I’m so sorry. To the victims, my heartfelt sorrow and my prayers.”
In Boston on Sunday, former priest Robert Hoatson claimed Cardinal Sean O’Malley received a letter in 2015 detailing decades-long sexual abuse by former Bishop Theodore McCarrick but did nothing about it.
“We are here today to ask Cardinal Sean O’Malley to please come clean, tell us what you know, and be honest and truthful about each and every aspect of it,” he said at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.
When the allegations about McCarrick came to light in July, O’Malley issued a statement, writing, “These alleged actions, when committed by any person, are morally unacceptable and incompatible with the role of a priest, bishop or cardinal. I am deeply troubled by these reports that have traumatized many Catholics and members of the wider community.”
Last week, the church came under fire in Pennsylvania when a grand jury released a report detailing allegations of sex abuse by more than 300 priests against 1,000 children.
“I was told by numerous priests and nuns that if I was to say anything to anybody, that I would go down the drain,” said Heather Taylor, an alleged abuse victim.
The Pope is traveling to Ireland this week. His schedule does not include any meetings with sex abuse survivors.
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