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	Pope to Face Sex Abuse Protest NEWS.com May 9, 2008 http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23669237-2,00.html VICTIMS' rights groups have outlined plans to protest the Catholic Church's handling of sex abuse cases at this year's World Youth Day festival. Their comments came as pressure mounted on Pope Benedict XVI to repeat an apology to abuse victims, which he made in New York recently. The Pope will arrive in Sydney in July along with up to 125,000 overseas pilgrims. While Maitland-Newcastle Bishop Michael Malone has said he would "be supportive" of a papal apology, World Youth Day director of liturgy Father Peter Williams yesterday said it was impossible to know whether one would be forthcoming while the Pope was in Australia. But irrespective of his comments, victims' rights campaigner Helen Last, from In Good Faith & Associates, confirmed a series of protests, involving hundreds, would take place. "Words are not worth anything unless they're followed up with words and deeds," she said. "We're linking all the victims' groups in a collaborative protest. Certainly our presence will be felt. "We want to make a symbolic statement in regard to the neglect and disregard of victims." Victim support campaigner Clare Pascoe criticised the amount of money the church was spending on World Youth Day and said any papal apology had to be more than symbolic. "Based on average figures of payouts to clergy abuse victims, the total spending on World Youth Day equates to about 7000 victim payouts," she said. "They're spending all that money on themselves and crying poor when it comes to victims. To me, there's an injustice there." Ms Pascoe also urged the Pope to make good on a promise he made in the US that he would make sure no abusive priests were still practising. "I doubt very much that that's actually going to happen ... but (defrocking them) is what's going to make an apology seem real." World Youth Day organisers said they weren't in a position to speculate about what the Pope would say on the subject prior to, or during, his visit. They did confirm that if the Vatican requested a meeting with survivors, they would expect to assist in its organisation. Fr Williams said there wasn't an automatic assumption that the Pope would broach the subject. "In America he was visiting the Americans. In Australia he'll talk to the youth of the world so the messages are necessarily messages for global youth," he said.
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