BishopAccountability.org
	Pope Vows Action over Clerical Abuse The Age April 22, 2010 http://www.theage.com.au/world/pope-vows-action-over-clerical-abuse-20100422-t3hw.html POPE Benedict XVI has promised ''church action'' to confront the clerical abuse scandal. The Pope told his weekly public audience yesterday in St Peter's Square that during his recent trip to Malta he had told victims of abuse that he ''shared their suffering … assuring them of church action''. On Sunday Benedict met eight Maltese men who say they were abused as children by priests. The Vatican issued a statement saying the Pope had told the men during the private meeting that the church would do everything in its power to bring justice to abusive priests and would implement ''effective measures'' to protect children. Benedict's words yesterday are his first public comment on the scandal. The development came as the Pope accepted the resignation of an Irish bishop over his role in covering up child abuse by Dublin priests, Irish Catholic officials said. Bishop James Moriarty offered his resignation in December after admitting he did not challenge the Dublin Archdiocese's past practice of concealing from police child-abuse complaints. He served as an auxiliary Dublin bishop from 1991 to 2002, then was promoted to his present position as bishop of the neighbouring diocese of Kildare. Two church officials spoke yesterday on condition of anonymity because the Vatican is expected to make the formal announcement today. The Vatican also is expected to accept in coming weeks the December resignation offers of two auxiliary Dublin bishops, Eamonn Walsh and Ray Field. All three bishops were identified in an Irish government-ordered investigation, published last year, into decades of cover-ups of child-abusing clergy in the Dublin archdiocese. The report found all bishops until 1996 colluded to protect scores of paedophile priests from prosecution. The November report did not accuse Bishop Moriarty of any specific cover-up. But he offered his resignation after accepting he should have taken personal responsibility for challenging the practice of keeping abuse complaints within the church.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.