April 16, 2005

Priestly Sex Abuse Survivors Slam Five Papal Candidates

Sofia News Agency

Politics: 16 April 2005, Saturday.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a support group for abuse survivors, announced the names of five cardinals who are "morally unacceptable as papal candidates".

SNAP has blacklisted Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City, Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of state under Pope John Paul II, Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy under the late pope, and Cardinal Francisco Errazuriz Ossa of Santiago, Chile.

The five papal candidates do not understand the gravity of priestly sex abuse of minors, according to SNAP, which has based its list on statements it said the cardinals have made in the media.

As the crisis of sex abuse by priests will grow to other countries beyond the United States, we believe that it should be a factor in choosing the next pope, said Barbara Blaine, founder and president of SNAP, as cited by the Catholic News Service.

Posted by kshaw at April 16, 2005 07:37 AM