“The Vatican refused to cooperate with those 2001-09 probes into the Dublin Archdiocese…The investigations, directed by senior Irish judges and lawyers, ruled that Catholic leaders protected the church's reputation from scandal at the expense of children — and began passing their first abuse reports to police in 1996 only after victims began to sue the church….While a cardinal at the Vatican, Joseph Ratzinger, now the pope, wrote a 2001 letter instructing bishops worldwide to report all cases of abuse to his office and keep church investigations secret under threat of excommunication."
"The Irish investigators forced the church to hand over its copious files on abuse cases dating back to the 1950s. They unearthed a paper trail confirming the Irish bishops' successful acquisition of group liability insurance in the 1980s, a decade before the deluge of lawsuits. And they found cases where Catholic officials in the 1960s reported school employees to police for abusing children, showing they understood even then it was a crime."
http://www.annistonstar.com/view/full_story/6786775/article-Papal-letter-fails-to-calm-anger-over-Irish-abuses-?instance=breakingnews
There's much more to this:
ReplyDeletehttp://apnews.myway.com/article/20100320/D9EICMPG0.html
Hundreds of new allegations of abuse have recently come to light across Europe, including in the pope's native Germany, where he served as archbishop in a diocese where several victims have recently come forward. One priest suspected of molesting boys while the future pope was in charge was transferred to a job where he abused more children.
While a cardinal at the Vatican, Joseph Ratzinger penned a letter instructing bishops around the world to report all cases of abuse to his office and keep them secret under threat of excommunication. Irish bishops have said the letter was widely understood to mean they shouldn't report the cases to police.
From a recent Wall Street Journal article:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Wednesday [March 17] for a full accounting of alleged sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Germany, intensifying the pressure on Pope Benedict XVI to address a scandal that has torn through his homeland.
"We can all agree that sexual abuse of children is a despicable crime," Ms. Merkel said in an address to Germany's Parliament, her first major remarks on the scandal that has grown to involve more than 200 cases of alleged abuse, some dating back 50 years. "There is only one way for our society to come to terms with [the scandal], and that is truth and clarity about everything that has happened."
Ms. Merkel added that there should be a full discussion on whether to extend statutes of limitations on prosecuting such cases and how best to compensate victims. " We shouldn't simplify the issues," she said. Confronting and rectifying cases of abuse, she said, "is a test for our entire society."
* * *
German lawmakers are now debating whether to extend the time period in which alleged victims could sue for financial damages, or whether to pressure the church to compensate regardless. The church can "not hide behind statutes of limitations," German parliamentarian Christian Ahrendt, a member of the Free Democrats, Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition partners, said in a statement. "Compensation is much more a moral question, not a legal one."
Under German law, child sexual-abuse cases must be criminally prosecuted within 10 years of the alleged victim's 18th birthday. The statute of limitations for pursuing civil damages is three years, giving most victims in such cases until just the age of 21 to file suit.
A number of lawmakers have called for introducing legislation that would extend the time limits for civil suits in these cases to as much as 30 years. German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger has said such legislation should be introduced by summer….
In another allegation, which surfaced late last week, a priest who was known to the church as a sex abuser was returned to pastoral work in 1980 at a German archdiocese under Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. The Vatican has said the Pope was unaware of the incident. The archdiocese's then-administrative deputy has taken responsibility.
About this last paragraph: Ratzinger had (and has) a reputation for micro-management. So it is highly likely that this "then-administrative deputy" is simply falling on his sword to protect Ratzinger from having to take personal responsibility for this.
With the Chancellor of Germany involved, and the German parliament, this story will be in the news for months.
By the way Mark Shea, who are the real pigs in this story?
How true the saying: "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". The secular media seeks nothing less than the destruction or nullification of the Church of Christ and those that root for the media confirm by their applause where, on God's dividing line, we know them to stand.
ReplyDeleteThe church of Christ is doing just fine. It's the apostate church of Rome that's under fire.
ReplyDeleteApparently, the world likes you and gives you and your communion no heckles; why that is the case should be obvious to you.
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