VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Sexual abuse of children is not just a Catholic Church problem and other institutions should take steps to acknowledge and deal with such "wickedness" within their own ranks, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
The Vatican's chief spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, also said the record $660 million settlement between the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and victims of sexual abuse was an attempt to "close a painful chapter and look forward".
"The Church is above all clearly pained by the suffering of the victims and their families, by the deep wounds caused by the grave and inexcusable behavior of some of its members," Lombardi said.
"It has decided to commit itself in every way to avoid a repetition of such wickedness," he said, adding that the Church now had a "a policy of prevention and creation of an ever more secure atmosphere for children and young people in all aspects of (its) pastoral programs".
Lombardi reaffirmed a position taken by other Catholic Church leaders in the past -- that other organized religions and institutions should also deal with paedophilia as publicly as the Catholic Church has been forced to by various scandals.
"The problem of the abuse of childhood and its adequate protection certainly does not regard only the (Catholic) Church, but also many other institutions and it is right that these take the necessary decisions as well," he said.
3 comments:
Indeed it isn't a Catholic problem, but that doesn't lessen it in any way shape or form... but you all already know that.
Hopefully the mainstream view of the RCC will look past the few evil men and see the Catholic Church for the immense amount of good it does in the world.
*hears the gasping from people surprised a Baptist would say the RCC does good*
;)
Thanks for that. I know some want to use this as a weapon. The men that did this are criminals and are not in any way interested in serving God.
I know a wonderful preist who simply smiled at a child in an airport and the mother led the boy away with a look of disgust.
That's sad. I have always said the church is under attack often from the inside out.
I feel that the church is under attack from the inside out too, the news media doesn't help when they air the same old news over and over again, when its a non-Catholic involved in something similiar, its swept under the carpet.
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