The pope conceded that the church had failed to put the needs of victims first in what was considered to be one of his strongest condemnations of child sexual abuse in the Catholic church to date. It is also my shame, our shame, for the incapacity of the church for too long to put them at the centre of its concerns. It found an estimated , children were victims of sexual violence by French Catholic priests, deacons and other clergy from to When considering lay members of the church, such as teachers at Catholic schools, the figure rose to at least , Zollner was on the organising committee of a Vatican summit, held in February , to address paedophilia within the Catholic church.
Pope Francis called for "decisive action" when he was elected in , but critics say he has not done enough to hold to account bishops who allegedly covered up abuse. In August , he wrote to all Roman Catholics condemning clerical sex abuse , and demanding an end to cover ups. His predecessor, Pope Benedict, had been accused of failing to protect children and suppressing investigations - allegations he denied. Before him, under Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Bernard Law, the disgraced figure at the centre of the Boston scandal, was given a symbolic role in Rome close to the Vatican and allowed to maintain his rank, despite outrage from victims.
Between and several huge payouts were made by US dioceses to settle victims' claims. In , Pope Benedict told bishops, in new guidelines, that they had to report any suspected cases to local police promptly. Previously, all cases were supposed to be referred to Rome. Under Francis, a special panel has been set up to deal with the issue but it has faced setbacks, including high-level resignations.
In , Marie Collins, an Irish survivor of abuse, left the group, citing "stumbling blocks and hindrances". During the summit in February , Pope Francis promised an end to cover-ups, saying that all abusers would be brought to justice. His announcement of changes to the law earlier this year marked the biggest overhaul of the Roman Catholic Church's criminal code in decades. The new rules - which come into effect in December - make sexual abuse, grooming minors for sex, possessing child pornography and covering up abuse a criminal offence under Vatican law.
The Pope said one aim was to "reduce the number of cases in which the New Vatican laws toughen sexual abuse punishment. French clergy abused , children since Pope compares sex abuse to human sacrifice. Image source, AFP. Pope Francis prays during a Eucharistic celebration in the Vatican, on the final day of a summit on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Eventually though, Francis waived the statute of limitations in the case and signed off on a new policy for Vatican City requiring such crimes to be reported to Vatican prosecutors.
The key whistleblower in the case, Kamil Jarzembowski, said he wrote Francis and other church authorities several letters over the years detailing what he had seen as the roommate of the alleged victim, but never received a reply: He reported seeing his roommate repeatedly molested by Martinelli at night when Martinelli would enter their dorm room. He has said the molestation began when both were minors and continued after Martinelli turned The Polish-born Jarzembowski, once a devout altar boy, was kicked out of the seminary after he reported the misconduct to the archpriest of St.
In this case, the charges against Radice suggest that he wanted see Martinelli ordained a priest at all cost, despite the allegations against him. Both men are affiliated with a small Como-based association, the Opera Don Folchi, which runs the youth seminary and needs a constant supply of new young priests to keep it going.
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