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	Italy: Vatican Sends "Paedophile Priest" for Therapy AKI November 10, 2009 http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Religion/?id=3.0.3976881520 Florence, 10 Nov. (AKI) - The Vatican has removed an Italian priest from his daily duties and sent him for "spiritual therapy" after allegations that he sexually molested children. The Vatican's doctrinal watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, ruled that Roberto Berti should face obligatory 'isolation' for eight years and undergo recovery and therapy. According to Italian media reports, the Vatican said Berti will "for eight years be obliged to live under supervision and in a structure outside the diocese and follow a path of spiritual recovery and therapy. "During this time, the priest is excluded from every pastoral activity," media reports said. Berti,who was parish priest in the central Tuscan village of Ginestra Fiorentina from the end of the 1990s to 2001, was accused by two other priests and his alleged victims who accused him of sexual and psychological abuse. The Vatican's decision was issued by Giuseppe Betori , a monsignor in the central Italian city of Florence in a letter sent to the current parish priest of Ginestra Fiorentina, James Savarirajan. Savarirajan in turn placed the letter in the notice board of the church. In the letter sent to Savarirajan, Betori spoke of the "pain and bitterness" that this issue had caused, and expressed his sympathy for those affected by the "sad consequences" of the priest's action. Betori said he was committed to ensure that episodes like these do not happen again. Berti was parish priest of Ginestra Fiorentina from the end of the 1990's until 2001, as well as the Tuscan town of San Mauro a Signa from 2001 to 2008. According to Italian media reports, no legal action is being taken against Berti.
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