VATICAN CITY
La Croix International
February 22, 2019
By Céline Hoyeau, Nicolas Senèze and Gauthier Vaillant
How can we profess faith in Christ when we close our eyes to all the wounds inflicted by abuse? asks Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila
“From the age of 15 I had sexual relations with a priest. This lasted for 13 years. I got pregnant three times and he made me have an abortion three times, quite simply because he did not want to use condoms or contraceptives. At first I trusted him so much that I did not know he could abuse me. I was afraid of him, and every time I refused to have sex with him, he would beat me.”
The young African woman, who shared her testimony with the bishops assembled for the meeting on the protection of minors on Feb. 21, left nothing of her Calvary experience to the imagination.
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