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	Yes, the Vatican Is Still Scarred by the Sex-Abuse Scandals Digital Journal July 16, 2008 http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/257509 After several months since Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to the United States, the Vatican is still plagued with the scars of the sex-abuse scandals. For the early part of 2008, the Vatican has been scarred with the reports of sex abuse within the American Catholic clergy. During his first-ever visit to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI spent the time to meet with the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of the clergy. Benedict explained that such scandals have hurt the Catholic Church. Even though this was several months ago, the Vatican is still plagued with those scandals. It is safe to say that the Catholic Church will be scarred for a very long time. The scars are so great that they were resent at its World Youth Day celebration. This year, the celebration is being held in Sydney, Australia. The celebration will be headed by Benedict. However, sex abuse at the hands of the clergy is everywhere. Anthony Foster, a father of two, is from Australia. He explains that his two daughters were abused by a Catholic priest back in Melbourne. One of the daughters had taken her own life as a result. The other daughter went into drinking. Due to an accident while drunk, she suffered brain-damage. Foster had some interesting demands to issue to Benedict. With what had happened to his daughters, Foster’s demands look more than reasonable. Foster is looking for the Pope to make major changes in the church on how they deal with such scandals. “I want them to set up a system which provides lifetime help to victims, a system where they beg forgiveness of the victims,” Foster explains. From what happened to his two daughters, Foster's demands look more than justified. While the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day celebration is supposed to be positive, it has been marred by the everlasting scars of the sex-abuse scandals within the Catholic Church. The Vatican could potentially have a problem keeping those scandals from affecting the celebration. In a nutshell, the Vatican cannot escape such scandals. As Foster has spoken out about his two daughters, perhaps more people might speak out and make similar demands. This is only a matter of time. Overall, it is up to Pope Benedict XVI to deal with it. There are questions to be asked: Is Pope Benedict XVI going to deal with such abuses? If so, how will Benedict deal with these scandals? Can we expect a shakeup in how the Vatican operates in the near future?
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