UNITED KINGDOM
National Secular Society
Posted: Mon, 23 Jun 2014 by David McClenaghan
Words are not enough: David McClenaghan argues that if the Church wants to deal with its record on child abuse it must root out both the offenders and enablers.
The church must not only root out offenders but also those who have allowed crimes to happen by covering them up.
Pope Francis’s zero tolerance policy for those in the Catholic Church who abuse children should be a statement of the obvious.
It is a sad indictment of the church that it is not; and that it is being treated as something to be celebrated. The reality is that zero tolerance of paedophile priests is the bare minimum that the church can do to protect vulnerable children and victims of abuse.
The Pope’s statement and recent apology for a number of sex scandals involving priests is not enough. He needs to take greater action and show not only zero tolerance towards those who have committed acts of abuse but to those who have protected paedophile priests. It is unacceptable to cover up abuse scandals in the misguided belief that protecting the reputation of the church is more important than protecting vulnerable children.
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