Vatican responds to Pennsylvania
Grand Jury abuse report
On Thursday evening, the Director of the Holy See Press
Office, Greg Burke, issued the following statement regarding the report of the
Pennsylvania Grand Jury issued earlier this week in the United States over the
sexual abuse of minors.
"Regarding the report made public in Pennsylvania this
week, there are two words that can express the feelings faced with these
horrible crimes: shame and sorrow. The Holy See treats with great seriousness
the work of the Investigating Grand Jury of Pennsylvania and the lengthy
Interim Report it has produced. The Holy See condemns unequivocally the sexual
abuse of minors.
The abuses described in the report are criminal and morally
reprehensible. Those acts were betrayals of trust that robbed survivors of
their dignity and their faith. The Church must learn hard lessons from its
past, and there should be accountability for both abusers and those who
permitted abuse to occur.
Most of the discussion in the report concerns abuses before
the early 2000s. By finding almost no cases after 2002, the Grand Jury’s
conclusions are consistent with previous studies showing that Catholic Church
reforms in the United States drastically reduced the incidence of clergy child
abuse. The Holy See encourages continued reform and vigilance at all levels of
the Catholic Church, to help ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable
adults from harm. The Holy See also wants to underscore the need to comply with
the civil law, including mandatory child abuse reporting requirements.
The Holy Father understands well how much these crimes can
shake the faith and the spirt of believers and reiterates the call to make
every effort to create a safe environment for minors and vulnerable adults in
the Church and in all of society.
Victims should know that the Pope is on their side. Those
who have suffered are his priority, and the Church wants to listen to them to
root out this tragic horror that destroys the lives of the innocent."
(Original text: Italian – Working translation)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét