Pope Benedict XVI And Pedophilia In The Catholic Church

Evidence has been revealed this week in regards to Pope Benedict XVI and a letter that he wrote in May, 2001, stating that the “Crimine solicitationies” law(regarding strict secrecy in sex abuse cases) is still in effect. The law, to which former Cardinal Ratzinger’s letter refers, was issued by Pope John XXIII to every bishop in the world in 1962. What this means is that as recently as 2001, Ratzinger supported and encouraged the curtain of secrecy over widespread sexual abuse by the clergy. Two years ago, the Observer International in England published a story about the Vatican’s role in covering up sexual abuse. The story was ignored by other media for unknown reasons, but the article itself is very revealing. One of the most explosive directives of the policy is that any clergyman in the church who defies the policy of secrecy, is liable for excommunication. The document also calls for the victim to take an oath of secrecy at the time of making a complaint to the Church. This ruling is consistent with what happened in the Cornwall- Alexandria diocese when $32,000 of hush money for an alleged victim was authorized by former Bishop Eugene LaRoque. It appears that he was following the orders given to him by the Vatican. British lawyer, Richard Scorer, who acts for children abused by Catholic priests in the UK stated in 2003: “ We always suspected that the Catholic Church systematically covered up abuse and tried to silence victims. Threatening excommunication to anybody who speaks out show the lengths the most senior figures in the Vatican are prepared to go to prevent the information getting out to the public domain.” The letter signed by Cardinal Razinger in 2001, supporting the 1962 instruction, is still in force. That means that the new Pope, unless he states otherwise, will continue to enforce the code of silence into sexual abuse acts committed by Catholic priests. I think that one of the challenges for the local Public Inquiry is obvious. The present Bishop for the Cornwall- Alexandria diocese should be one of the first people called to present evidence. If, as this article suggests, the Vatican has deliberately misled criminal investigations of sexual abuse cases by remaining silent and withholding evidence, then I think we have a serious breach which has led to a breakdown of the criminal justice system. The upcoming Public Inquiry will have huge challenges ahead of it. One of the biggest will be to change the sexual abuse policies enforced by the Vatican, arguably the most powerful institution on the planet. To deny that change is needed is to deny a safe environment for our children and grandchildren in the future.