The answer to the question posed in the link is almost certainly yes.
According to this report, the Church in Italy has steadfastly refused to provide an accounting of the rape of children by clerics. And the Vatican, as the head of the Church in Italy, has been part and parcel of this refusal.
Some of the rape victims are having none of it:
The Vatican has long resisted calls to investigate the church in Italy, according to Francesco Zanardi, a vocal survivor from the northern town of Savona, who runs the support group Rete L’Abuso or Abuse Network. He has launched a social media campaign called #ItalyChurchToo. He has likened the Vatican’s ability to silence accusations against Italian priests to the mafia’s use of the omerta or code of silence.
Zanardi sends out a daily newsletter publishing credible accusations of abuse and news when pedophile priests are brought to justice—which is rare in Italy, in part because of what Zanardi calls “interference” by the Catholic Church in the Italian judicial system. He says crucifixes hang in all Italian courtrooms not as a show of faith but “as a threat and reminder that the Church is more powerful than even God.”
On Friday, he will launch a database with the media group Left, that will list convicted Italian priests, criminal cases, and victims’ accounts of abuse. It will be the first such public account in the country, and he says they will start with more than 350 proven cases of abuse by priests, but that there are “hundreds and hundreds of victims” who are too afraid to come forward because of the church's influence in the country. “In the absence of action by the State and the Church, the time has come for a turning point,” he says. “We will be the 'Trojan horse’ in a system that sees institutions defenseless with respect to the problem of pedophile priests.”
The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The mafia comparison is fair. And not just in Italy.
The Vatican has a chance to do the right thing here. But when it comes to predatory clerics, doing the right thing is never, ever the first option.
I certainly wouldn't be satisfied unless an accounting--any accounting--included women, men, and the elderly. I can accept that individual persons fail in situations of mutuality. A lot of stand-up guys in the 60s and 70s just went to the bishop and said they were leaving.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, a female friend on the other end of a relationship was counselled to go the mistress route so her beloved could remain in ministry. Fortunately, the guy in question had more integrity than his pals in the clergy.
As for the rest, too many bullies on the lookout for anyone vulnerable, and it's not just the kids. They don't belong in ministry.
A lot of stand-up guys in the 60s and 70s just went to the bishop and said they were leaving.
DeleteYour definition of 'stand up guy' is idiosyncratic.
Hardly. I can muster some respect for a man who can admit he has fallen in love with a woman and who takes the front door route, rather than keep mistresses and maintain a false front as a celibate.
DeleteAccording to this report, the Church in Italy has steadfastly refused to provide an accounting of the rape of children by clerics.
ReplyDeleteThen establish a central state repository of complaints (being careful to not promote them by appending complaints to monetary compensation) and provide for an audit of personnel records in a manner according to law.
I doubt you're going to find many instances of the rape of children. What you'll find is instances of the molestation of adolescents.
The Jay Study found reports of priests and infants. But if the clergy of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s had all-male altar server corps, I think we'd appreciate that most victims were male teens. But actually boys younger than 13 and all girtls outnumbered those male teens.
DeleteRape, abuse, and other molestations are not crimes of sex. They are crimes of power. Not unlike cover-ups, stonewalling victims, and schmoozing for financial support on all this.
But actually boys younger than 13 and all girtls outnumbered those male teens.
DeleteThey didn't.
And the ratio of male to female accusers increased from 1.8:1 to 6:1 between complaints making reference to events in the 1950s and complaints making reference to events in the 1980s.
This is fake news, at least where the Jay Study is concerned.
Delete