Prague Archbishopric Rejects Cardinal Duka's Accusation

Prague Daily Monitor
March 7, 2013

http://praguemonitor.com/2013/03/07/prague-archbishopric-rejects-cardinal-dukas-accusation

The Prague Archbishopric Wednesday protested against the criticism of its head, Cardinal Dominik Duka, voiced by the American organisation Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

The SNAP listed Duka, primate of the Czech Catholic Church, among some dozen cardinals who did not adequately react to the accusations of priests of sexual abuse, and this is why they should not elect a new pope.

The Prague Archbishopric said the criticism of Duka was unsubstantiated.

"It was voiced as the moment when the media are strongly interested in the collegium of cardinals over the prepared election of the pope, while the cardinals, who are not at home and are pledged to secrecy, can hardly defend themselves," the Prague Archbishopric said.

According to the archbishopric, Duka might provoke such criticism by his pointing to the fact that sexual abuse is "a problem of the whole society of which the church is a part" during his visit to the United States as well.

Duka said this was a problem of split families and loose morals in general.

"At the same time, Cardinal Duka has always insisted on that the church must be more prudent in these matters than other institutions and that all measures to prevent the abuse must be supported," Prague Archbishopric stressed.

It recalls that unlike other countries, the communist regime in the then Czechoslovakia did not allow the church to establish schools and this is why , the Czech church paradoxically did not face the problem of sexual abuse basically.