Related Stories
Pope: Bishops Must Be Held Accountable for Abuse
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of ABC News/Associated Press
Posted: July 14th, 2014
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/pope-meets-catholics-...
Pope Francis begged forgiveness [on July 7] in his first meeting with Catholics sexually abused by members of the clergy and went further than any of his predecessors by vowing to hold bishops accountable for their handling of pedophile priests. Abuse victims and their advocates have long demanded that higher-ups be made to answer for the decades-long cover-ups of rape and molestation of youngsters in a scandal that has rocked the church and dismayed its worldwide flock of 1.2 billion. "Before God and his people, I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse committed against you. And I humbly ask forgiveness," Francis said. But in speaking of accountability, he made no mention of what countless victims and their families around the globe have waited years to hear: whether bishops and other prelates who shuffled child-molesting priests from parish to parish or didn't inform police and prosecutors would be fired or demoted. The U.S.-based victims group SNAP, or the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, reacted skeptically. SNAP Director David Clohessy said, "Saying and doing are different things. The first is easy, the second is hard." Anne Barrett Doyle, a director of another victims advocacy group, BishopAccountability.org, said the pope's meeting with the three men and three women was still a positive step.
Note: For more on this, see concise summaries of deeply revealing sexual abuse scandals news articles from reliable major media sources.
Related Stories
Latest News
Key News Articles from Years Past
