UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Thursday, March 6, 2014
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )
In a little-noticed talk with some Italian priests yesterday, Pope Francis offered tender words for clerics he calls “falsely accused” of abuse (according to Gazzetta del Sud). But those sympathetic words are apparently left out (and replaced by ellipses) in the official version of his talk in four summaries or official versions of the speech that are accessible from the Vatican’s website. (See below.)
We’ve already voiced our disappointment and concern about the content of his comments:
[SNAP]
But having learned – from a staffer at BishopAccountability.org – about apparent Vatican efforts to hide the pontiff’s comments, we are even more troubled.
We can’t help but wonder what other potentially controversial remarks this pontiff may have made – on all kinds of topics – that may have been scrubbed from official Vatican outlets.
It’s depressing that Pope Francis thinks about abuse the same way many Catholic officials do. It’s more depressing if Pope Francis – or his backers – act about abuse the same way many Catholic officials do – by being deceptive. …
BACKGROUND / ANALYSIS
Here is the summary of his talk on the Vatican Radio website. It has no mention of his “falsely accused” remarks:
[news.va]
Here’s a slightly longer summary, on the website of the Vatican Information Service. No mention here:
[news.va]
Here’s another version, accessible via the Press Bulletin tab on the Vatican website. No mention of falsely accused priests:
Here is the longest available version of his speech on the Vatican website:
[news.va]
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.