Pope Francis, ending a landmark conference on sexual abuse of children by clergy, yesterday called for an “all-out battle” against a crime he said should be “erased from the face of the earth”.
The pope promised that guidelines used by national bishops conferences to prevent abuse and punish perpetrators will be reviewed and strengthened. He also said the church's legal definition of a minor will be raised from the current age of 14 in order to “expand protection” of young people.
But advocates for victims expressed deep disappointment, saying Francis merely repeated old promises and offered few new concrete proposals.
Francis vowed that the Roman Catholic Church would “spare no effort” to bring abusers to justice and will not cover up or underestimate abuse as he spoke at the end of a Mass in the frescoed Sala Regia of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.
However, Francis dedicated much of the first part of a speech lasting more than half an hour to statistics from the UN and other organisations showing that most sexual abuse of children takes place in families. “We are thus facing a universal problem, tragically present almost everywhere and affecting everyone. Yet we need to be clear, that while gravely affecting our societies as a whole, this evil is in no way less monstrous when it takes place within the church,” he said.
Anne Barrett-Doyle, of the US-based clergy abuse tracking group bishopaccountability.org, called it a “stunning letdown”, saying: “As the world’s Catholics cry out for concrete change, the pope instead provides tepid promises, all of which we’ve heard before.
“Especially distressing was the pope’s familiar rationalisation that abuse happens in all sectors of society.
"We needed him to offer a bold and decisive plan. He gave us instead defensive, recycled rhetoric."
Speaking later in his traditional public Sunday address in St Peter’s Square, Francis said past cover-ups by some in the church and the protecting of abusers was “unjustifiable”.
The Vatican says it will formulate follow-up measures to make sure all bishops from around the world return home knowing how to put anti-abuse procedures into place.
At the start of the conference on Thursday, the pope and the participants had watched a video of five victims telling their stories.
The homily of the Mass that formally ended the gathering of some 200 top Church leaders was delivered by Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, Australia, whose words were in many ways more pungent than the pope’s. Reuters