A network of victims of sexual
abuse by members of the clergy said Tuesday that it has evidence
of four major cases of abuse in Italy that the Catholic Church
failed to properly address.
Francesco Zanardi of the ECA Global network compared the
cases to allegations by the Vatican's former ambassador to the
United States, Carlo Maria Viganò, that Pope Francis and other
Church officials mishandled accusations of sexual misconduct by
retired American cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
"There are four Viganò cases in Italy," Zanardi told a news
conference at the foreign press association in Rome.
He said the cases concerned the St. Pius X Pre-Seminary
inside the Vatican, the Istituto Antonio Provolo for the deaf in
Verona and alleged abuse by priests Mauro Galli and Silverio
Mura in the dioceses of Milan and Naples respectively.
"We have one case here in the room with us, one of the pope's
altar boys," Zanardi said.
"He was abused indirectly because it was his roommate being
abused inside the Vatican (at the Pius X Pre-Seminary).
"This case was covered up twice by the Vatican and the
alleged abuser is currently a priest in Como who has never been
punished.
"Pope Francis pledges to resolve the problem around the world
and he was not able to resolve it in his tiny State".
Zanardi said that a delegation of former students of the
Istituto Provolo met Pope Francis in 2014 and handed him a list
of 25 alleged pedophiles, including priest Nicola Corradi, who
is currently under arrest in Argentina.
"He was not stopped by the Vatican or the pope on the basis
of this report," said Zanardi.
"He was left in South America by the Istituto Antonio Provolo
until the Argentine judiciary arrested him".
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