Georg Gaenswein, the
personal secretary of former pope Benedict XVI, on Tuesday
compared the crisis the Catholic Church is enduring due to sex
abuse scandals to the impact of September 11 terrorist attacks.
The Catholic Church has been hit by a long series of cases of
child sex abuse by clergymen in many parts of the world.
These include the recent report by a Pennsylvania grand jury
that said more than 300 priests abused more than 1,000 children
over seven decades.
"Today is September 11, the date of an apocalyptic diaster
and the Church is looking at its own September 11, full of
dismay, above all, following the Pennsylvania grand jury
report," Gaenswein said during an encounter at the Lower House.
"This catastrophe of ours is linked to many days and years
and to countless victims".
Gaenswein said that during his papacy, Benedict repeated
denounced the gravity of pedophilia, calling it an attack on the
Church from within.
On Monday Pope Francis' nine top cardinal advisers said the
Holy See was preparing the "necessary clarifications" about
accusations that the pontiff was among top Vatican officials to
cover up sexual misconduct by a former cardinal in the United
States.
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