BishopAccountability.org
	Child Sex Abuse in Churches New Nation July 4, 2010 http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2010/07/05/news0171.htm SURFACING of rather frequent news reports recently on child sex abuse in churches in different parts across the world has shocked the people of all faiths including those belonging to Christianity. After years of painful revelations, massive payouts, soul searching and reforms, the child sex abuse has spread across the globe and in recent time struck the church at its very core. As reported in the media, Pope Benedict XVI, long celebrated for speaking out against abuse, faces allegations that he helped 'to protect predator priests' as archbishop of Munich and later as the Vatican's chief morals enforcer. In an editorial the US-based National Catholic Reporter wrote the other day - 'We now face the largest institutional crisis in centuries, possibly in church history and demanded rather 'direct answers' from the Pope. The Independent newspaper decried the mismanagement of the crisis and insisted that the strategies employed so far - taking the legal path, obscuring the truth, and doing everything possible to protect perpetrators as well as the church's reputation and treasury - have failed miserably. The United States Conference of Bishops in 2002 established the National Review Board that identified cases involving more than 4,392 priests abusing at least 10,677 American children between 1950 and 2002. Though, meanwhile, the head of the German Bishops' Conference had briefed Pope Benedict about the situation in Germany where more than 100 reports have emerged of child abuse by priests at Catholic institutions, including one linked to the prestigious Regensburg choir run by the Pope's own brother. With great shock and deep sadness people in general have come across such crimes by priests at places of worship. Undoubtedly, all such activities rather expose the extent of degeneration throwing challenges today to the most populous religion Christianity with almost 2 billion adherents across the globe.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.