Pope Francis is going backward on sexual abuse of children by priests

UNITED STATES
The Kansas City Star

March 25
BY MIKE HUNTER AND DAVID CLOHESSY
Special to The Star

The recent first anniversary of the election of Pope Francis provides an occasion for us to reflect on what he has accomplished in the past year.

Francis has captivated the imagination and inspired the hopes of millions. He has done so by making moves that are more than symbolic — carrying his luggage, washing others’ feet, making “cold calls.” He’s also taken real steps to improve Vatican governance and finances.

And so it’s difficult for us as members of the community of survivors to write: On the church’s central crisis — the cover-up of clergy sex crimes, Pope Francis is moving backward.

It stirs great sadness in us to come to this conclusion, but the facts speak for themselves.

Last August, the pope named a prominent member of the bizarre, scandal-ridden, and cultlike Legion of Christ to the number two position in the Vatican City State.

Pope Francis reappointed Cardinal Gerhard Müller, a known enabler of a convicted pedophile priest, to head the powerful Vatican watchdog office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), which oversees the handling of abuse cases for the entire church.

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