Pope declares 'zero tolerance' for sexual abuse in Catholic church

[trotsky]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/03/pope-declares-zero-tolerance-for-sexual-abuse-in-catholic-church

Pope Francis has told bishops around the world they must adhere to a policy of “zero tolerance” for clergy who sexually abuse children and begged forgiveness for “a sin that shames us”.

In a letter sent on 28 December but released by the Vatican only on Monday, Francis said: “I would like us to renew our complete commitment to ensuring that these atrocities will no longer take place in our midst.”

...

Anne Barrett-Doyle, founder of the US-based research and monitoring group BishopAccountablity.org, said in an email that the pope’s words were little more than rhetoric.

“This pope keeps proclaiming zero tolerance but doesn’t enact it. He knows full well that church law contains no zero tolerance provision. Zero tolerance is mere rhetoric. The sad fact is that the church still has not changed its system to make zero tolerance a binding reality,” she said.

More of the same from Pope Photo-Op.

[Girard442]

1. Hurray, because up to now, the official RCC policy has been...

..."If it feels good, do it!"

[rug]

2. What in his letter is repugnant to you?

The same thing is asked of us pastors today: to be men attentive, and not deaf, to the voice of God, and hence more sensitive to what is happening all around us. Today, with Saint Joseph as our model, we are asked not to let ourselves be robbed of joy. We are asked to protect this joy from the Herods of our own time. Like Joseph, we need the courage to respond to this reality, to arise and take it firmly in hand (cf. Mt 2:20). The courage to guard this joy from the new Herods of our time, who devour the innocence of our children. An innocence robbed from them by the oppression of illegal slave labour, prostitution and exploitation. An innocence shattered by wars and forced immigration, with the great loss that this entails. Thousands of our children have fallen into the hands of gangs, criminal organizations and merchants of death, who only devour and exploit their neediness.

To illustrate this point, there are at present 75 million children who, due to prolonged situations of emergency and crisis, have had to interrupt their education. In 2015, 68% of all persons who were victims of sexual exploitation were children. At the same time, a third of all children who have to live outside their homelands do so because forcibly displaced. We live in a world where almost half of the children who die under the age of five do so because of malnutrition. It is estimated that in 2016 there were 150 million child labourers, many of whom live in conditions of slavery. According to the most recent report presented by UNICEF, unless the world situation changes, in 2030 there will be 167 million children living in extreme poverty, 69 million children under the age of five will die between 2016 and 2030, and 16 million children will not receive basic schooling.

We hear these children and their cries of pain; we also hear the cry of the Church our Mother, who weeps not only for the pain caused to her youngest sons and daughters, but also because she recognizes the sins of some of her members: the sufferings, the experiences and the pain of minors who were abused sexually by priests. It is a sin that shames us. Persons responsible for the protection of those children destroyed their dignity. We regret this deeply and we beg forgiveness. We join in the pain of the victims and weep for this sin. The sin of what happened, the sin of failing to help, the sin of covering up and denial, the sin of the abuse of power. The Church also weeps bitterly over this sin of her sons and she asks forgiveness. Today, as we commemorate the feast of the Holy Innocents, I would like us to renew our complete commitment to ensuring that these atrocities will no longer take place in our midst. Let us find the courage needed to take all necessary measures and to protect in every way the lives of our children, so that such crimes may never be repeated. In this area, let us adhere, clearly and faithfully, to “zero tolerance”.

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/01/02/pope_urges_bishops_to_protect_lives_of_children/1283179

[Girard442]

3. Just clean up the damn mess already. NT

[rug]

4. You too.

To illustrate this point, there are at present 75 million children who, due to prolonged situations of emergency and crisis, have had to interrupt their education. In 2015, 68% of all persons who were victims of sexual exploitation were children. At the same time, a third of all children who have to live outside their homelands do so because forcibly displaced. We live in a world where almost half of the children who die under the age of five do so because of malnutrition. It is estimated that in 2016 there were 150 million child labourers, many of whom live in conditions of slavery. According to the most recent report presented by UNICEF, unless the world situation changes, in 2030 there will be 167 million children living in extreme poverty, 69 million children under the age of five will die between 2016 and 2030, and 16 million children will not receive basic schooling.

What's going on requires a lot more than sarcasm.

[Girard442]

5. I vote for prosecutions and hard time. NT

[rug]

6. Who are you going to prosecute for causing thousands of children to become refugees?

Or, are you simply going to post lame sarcasm and law and order posts?

[Girard442]

7. Everybody, including you, knew exactly what I meant. NT

[rug]

8. I know exactly what you meant.

A convenient cherry-picking of a letter to send a dog whistle which you dutifully answered.