Vatican official meets child sexual abuse protesters
(November 1, 2010) A top Vatican official has expressed closeness with victims
of child sexual in the Catholic Church who demonstrated near the Vatican on Sunday
night, demanding that the Church bring to task those responsible for cover ups and
do more to protect children. Some 100 victims and their supporters from the United
States and several European countries had wanted to march to the Vatican with candles
but were blocked by police because they did not have a permit. Dubbed "Reformation
Day", the protest was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the day in 1517 when
Martin Luther sparked the revolt against Papal authority that came to be known as
the Reformation. Holy See’s spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi, had gone to meet the
organizers and later received 8 of them privately in his office at nearby Vatican
Radio of which he is director general. The Jesuit priest left a statement with one
of them, saying the initiative was a personal gesture and “not an official one.”
He said that while he didn't share all of their declarations and positions, there
were points for consensus. He pointed out that Pope Benedict XVI and many church
communities in various parts of the world have done and are doing a lot by way of
listening to the victims as well as in the matter of prevention and formation. Fr.
Lombardi pointed out that the scourge of sexual abuse, especially against minors in
the Church is but a small part of what has happened, and continues to happen in the
world at large. He agreed that “the procedures of investigation and of intervention
must be ever swifter and more effective… and that their “cry today is an encouragement
to do more.” But, he pointed out that, a large part of the Church is already on
the good path. Later, two of the protesters were accompanied by police into St.
Peter’s Square where they left some 75 letters from abuse victims addressed to Pope
Benedict and placed a dozen small stones representing abuse victims from various countries.