Vatican: Abuse not just Catholic problem
Spokesman says church aims to be a protagonist against
pedophilia
Reuters
Updated: 9:52 a.m. ET July 17, 2007
VATICAN CITY - 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 Vaticans 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 pedophilia 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.
Lombardi said the Church was aware of its educational
responsibilities to youth and intended to be a protagonist in the
struggle against pedophilia, which he said was on the rise
worldwide.
Abuse dating back to the 40s
The Los Angeles decision involved 508 plaintiffs in cases dating
back to the 1940s. The pre-trial settlement means Cardinal Roger
Mahony will not have to testify in court.
The settlement reached on Saturday after 4½ years of negotiations
came before the first trial was due to begin on Monday. Victims
attorneys would have called Mahony to testify about the church
hierarchys protection of abusive priests.
The Los Angeles settlement dwarfs other landmark payouts. The
Archdiocese of Boston, where the U.S. scandal erupted in 2002,
reached a 2003 deal for 550 people worth $85 million.
Bostons archbishop, Cardinal Bernard Law, was forced to resign in
disgrace in December 2002.
Leaders of the U.S. Catholic Church were found to have moved
priests who abused minors to new parishes instead of defrocking
them or reporting them to authorities.
In his interview with Vatican Radio, Lombardi spoke of the
sacrifices the settlement would impose on the archdiocese.
The settlement funds will come from the archdiocese selling real
estate assets, including the archdioceses headquarters, insurers
and various Catholic religious orders.
Before his election as pope, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger went
out on a limb to decry the filth in the Church.
Benedict, who was elected in 2005, has taken a tougher stand on
sexual abuse in the Church than his predecessor. Last year he
disciplined Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the 86-year-old founder
of the conservative Legionaries of Christ, who had been accused of
sexually abusing boys decades ago.
