By Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Lez Get Real
November 8, 2010
http://lezgetreal.com/2010/11/pope-benedict-calls-conference-in-wake-of-disastrous-visit-to-spain/
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Pope Benedict is getting back from a rather disastrous visit to Spain where King Juan Carlos barely met with the pontiff, and Prime Minister Zapatero barely talked to him except to say ‘goodbye.’ Indeed, it almost seemed as if most of the royal family and the Prime Minister were just trying to make sure that Benedict did not leave papal arse prints on the door as he left. He has now summoned the cardinals from around the world to a day long summit in Rome next week in order to discuss the clerical child sex abuse scandal.
The Vatican is calling the session “a day of reflection and prayer” which might as well be code for ‘we hope and pray to God that the media stops covering this and everyone returns to the way things were in the thirteenth century. The meeting will be happening on 19 November the day before the anniversary of General Francisco Franco’s death and the installation of twenty-four new cardinals. The ceremony on 20 November is usually attended by many of the world’s top-ranking chruchmen.
The clergy have done what they can in order to try and put an end to the scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in recent years. For the most part, in the eight years since the scandal first erupted in the United States, the abuse allegations have ballooned across the globe and done little to bring in the faithful. In Spain, the number of regular church goers is down to 15% or so. It has not helped that bishops and cardinals have covered up for pedophile priests and even Pope Benedict is accused of turning a blind eye to the suffering of children for decades.
Pope Benedict has admitted that the Church has failed to take sufficient measures to stop the abuse, but he has done little but to actually combat the problem. The Vatican has moved faster on taking out thieving priests than it has on molesting priests.
William Cardinal Levada, the American who is heading the Vatican office drawing up changes in policy to fight abuse, will be heading up the discussion of “the church’s response to cases of sex abuse. However, victims groups are not so sure about the results of the discussion. Barbara Blaine, the president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests stated
” It’s easy and tempting to assume this is a positive sign. But that’s irresponsible. We’ll only know if this is a good development when we see action resulting from this meeting. To be swayed by mere talk is to betray vulnerable children and wounded adults. Talking about abuse is easy, preventing abuse is hard. It takes decisive action to oust predator priests and complicit bishops. And when it comes to abuse, this pope, like his predecessors, has shown little commitment to real action.”
Italy’s Cardinal Bagnasco, leader of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, deplored what he calls ‘sins of omission’ by the Church in its handling of sex abuse by clergy, but also told the biships at a meeting he was committing the Church toward facing and preventing such ‘mistakes.’
Of course, it is not so much of a mistake as a crime to do what the Church has been doing with the sex abuse cases.
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