Victims Blast Pope's "Tiny Tweaking" of Abuse Rules

Gazetta del Sud
July 11, 2013

http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/53783/Victims-blast-pope-s--tiny-tweaking--of-abuse-rules.html


New York, July 11 - The leading US clerical abuse protest group on Thursday dismissed Pope Francis's crackdown on crimes against kids, saying it was a "tiny tweak" which would in any case only apply within the small confines of the Vatican City. In a statement, David Clohessy, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said: "For the Vatican's image, this is a successful move. For children's safety, this is another setback. "It's a setback because it will help foster the false impression of reform and will lead to more complacency. "In the real world, this changes virtually nothing. It's precisely the kind of 'feel good' gesture that Vatican officials have long specialized in: tweaking often-ignored and ineffective internal church abuse guidelines to generate positive headlines but nothing more. "While the headlines may proclaim "Pope makes new church rules about abuse," the fine print makes it clear that there's just one rule, and it purportedly makes more child sexual violence illegal on the 0.2 square miles of Vatican property," Clohessy said.