Italian Catholic Church paedophilia
victims' group Italy Church Too said Friday they had already
been rebuffed by the new head of the Italian Bishops Conference
(CEI), Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, in their demand for an independent
inquiry into predator priests along the lines of those that have
taken place in other countries.
Their protest prompted an immediate response from Zuppi, who was
only appointed by Pope Francis three days ago.
Zuppi said "our thoughts are always with the victims, their pain
is our first concern."
He said a wide-ranging report on abuse by the Italian Catholic
Church would be published on November 18, and would also include
measures to prevent abuse recurring.
"We owe it to them, the Church is on the side of the victims",
Zuppi said.
Cardinal Zuppi, 66, a former street priest working with the poor
and homeless who has also helped broker international peace
deals with the Sant'Egidio Community, is seen as a breath of
fresh air for the CEI.
Despite this, Italy Church Too said "our letter asking for clear
answers on the issue of abuse starting from the creation of an
independent commission of inquiry has yet to get any response
from the institutions".
It said "our battle goes on in a renewed form, things are
getting bad even under the new presidency of Cardinal Zuppi who
has made many steps forward but will not take any action on this
(clerical abuse), evidently".
The CEI said Friday it had approved a five-part action plan
against abuse including new listening centres and an analysis of
cases since 2000 on data from the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith, the former Inquisition which now leads the
anti-paedophile fight.
Italy has had no large-scale reckoning with clerical sex abuse
like those in many other countries.
Italy Church Too say the abuse has also been massively
under-reported in Italy.
Pope Francis described the sexual abuse of children as an
"offence" against life on April 29 during an audience with the
Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
"Abuse in any form is unacceptable," the pope said.
"The sexual abuse of children is particularly grave, as an
offence against a life that is just beginning to flower.
"Instead of flourishing, one who is abused is deeply injured, at
times permanently".
In February the Italian survivors of clerical sex abuse unveiled
their campaign for Italy to see the kind of probes that have
uncovered massive abuse and cover-ups around the world.
The umbrella group of survivors, called #ItalyChurchToo,
launched the campaign "Beyond The Great Silence", saying that
Italian priestly abuse is hugely under-reported and authorities
have repeatedly ignored victims' pleas and covered up cases or
shuttled perpetrators around.
"It's time for an Italian Spotlight', they said, referring to
the landmark Boston Globe probe, the subject of the 2015 Oscar
winning film, that exposed hundreds of predator priests as well
as cover-ups by Church authorities.
The group described an offer from Italian bishops chief cardinal
Gualtiero Bassetti, Zuppi's predecessor, as "unacceptable" in
its lack of scope and accountability.
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