VATICAN CITY
Pioneer Press
BY PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
Knight Ridder Foreign Service
VATICAN CITY — Two American women who say they were molested as children by Roman Catholic priests protested Monday at the Vatican, drawing worldwide attention to the clergy sex-abuse scandal and disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law as he led a Mass to mourn the death of Pope John Paul II.
Barbara Blaine and Barbara Dorris, two leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, tried to pass out leaflets to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square before Law addressed several hundred people during the Mass at St. Peter's Basilica.
A crush of reporters from around the world converged on the two women, preventing them from delivering many leaflets.
With cardinals no longer talking to the media and there being few other news developments, the reporters ensured that the women's cause got global attention.
Blaine and Dorris said they entered St. Peter's Basilica as Law led the Mass, but didn't linger. There were no incidents during the Mass.
Posted by kshaw at April 12, 2005 07:34 AM