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“The Church Clearly Sees the Path to Follow”
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 14, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of a note released by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, which was broadcast by Vatican Radio, regarding sexual abuse by clergy.
At the end of this week in which much of the attention of the European press was focused on the question of sexual abuse committed by persons and in institutions of the Catholic Church, we have three observations.
First of all, the line taken by the German bishops’ conference has shown itself to be the right road to take to deal with the problem in its different aspects. The statements of the president of the conference, Archbishop Zollitsch, after the meeting with the Holy Father, take up again the lines established during the recent meeting of the conference and reemphasize the basic operative points: admit the truth and help the victims, reinforce prevention and constructively collaborate with authorities – including the state judiciaries – for the common good of society. Archbishop Zollitsch also reemphasized without uncertainty the opinion of the experts according to which the question of celibacy must not in any way be confused with that of pedophilia. The Holy Father encouraged the line taken by the German bishops, which – along with the specificities of the context of their country – can well be considered a very useful and inspiring model for other bishops’ conferences who find themselves faced with analogous problems.
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VATICAN CITY, MARCH 14, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of a note released by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, which was broadcast by Vatican Radio, regarding sexual abuse by clergy.
At the end of this week in which much of the attention of the European press was focused on the question of sexual abuse committed by persons and in institutions of the Catholic Church, we have three observations.
First of all, the line taken by the German bishops’ conference has shown itself to be the right road to take to deal with the problem in its different aspects. The statements of the president of the conference, Archbishop Zollitsch, after the meeting with the Holy Father, take up again the lines established during the recent meeting of the conference and reemphasize the basic operative points: admit the truth and help the victims, reinforce prevention and constructively collaborate with authorities – including the state judiciaries – for the common good of society. Archbishop Zollitsch also reemphasized without uncertainty the opinion of the experts according to which the question of celibacy must not in any way be confused with that of pedophilia. The Holy Father encouraged the line taken by the German bishops, which – along with the specificities of the context of their country – can well be considered a very useful and inspiring model for other bishops’ conferences who find themselves faced with analogous problems.
More…