Survivors urge cardinals to discuss sexual abuse crisis when choosing the next pope

The Cardinal was not the only one who came to Rome to participate in the conventional competition and chose Pope Francis' successor.

Since Francis passed away last month, survivors of sexual abuse and those who monitor the Roman Catholic Church’s handling of abuse cases have also arrived, hoping to convince the Cardinal to make the issue a priority when considering the next one should be the Pope.

“I think it’s very important to remind them that we won’t leave.” Berlin board member Matthias Katsch said Ending clergy abuse is an advocacy group representing survivors from 20 countries.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Friday that during the pre-critical meetings over the past week, the Cardinals discussed sexual abuse in the church and believed it was a “wound to stay open” so the awareness of the problem remains alive and can identify specific ways to recover.

When Francis was elected in 2013, he inherited a church deeply uneasy in the crisis of abuse by the instruments that damaged its reputation and ran out of leather in some places. Twelve years later, critics describe his legacy on the issue as a mixture.

Francis took a step stronger than some of his two predecessors, who caused the first wave of anger when the clergy abuse scandal exploded. But Francis stumbled, and the abuse of the papers remains a devastating issue that his successor will inherit.

When Francis called the world bishop to the Vatican in 2019 for an unprecedented meeting in an attempt to make the protection of children a global priority, it shows that the Vatican ultimately regards civilian sexual abuse as a global crisis, not a failure of any particular country or culture. He also conducted numerous international trips with survivors to show that the church is aware of their pain.

He issued and expanded the church's most comprehensive laws to face crises to hold clergy to cardinals if they sexually abuse or cover up abuse against children, minors or vulnerable adults.

However, he was disappointed with many survivors of abuse and their advocates because the case was not required to be reported to civil authorities or to be disclosed. They say that if the church will be taken seriously in its actions, then complete transparency is essential.

Claims about abuse and cover-up of the instrument continue to emerge – from individual cases to hundreds listed in reports commissioned by the National Bishops’ Conference.

Critics say the main obstacle to eliminating scourges lies within the church itself, both at the local level and at the Vatican hierarchy.

“In many countries in the non-Western world, abuse is still seen as a Western issue,” said Marie Collins, committee member that established Francis of Finors of The Protect of Tovernos of Working of Searth in 2013. At the time, the creation of such a group was seen as a powerful sign that Francis realized the impact of the abuse crisis on his followers.

But Ms Collins, a survivor of sexual abuse in Ireland, recalled how the committee faced the obstacles. She said it was underfunded and understaffed, and Vatican officials were reluctant to interact with committee members.

“There are very powerful forces in the church, not only in the Vatican, but still a traditional view that cannot be faced because it destroys the reputation of the church,” she said. “This is the worst clergy.” He refers to the dynamics of clergy (usually Francis) because they themselves are superior and isolated than the flock.

Ms. Collins resigned from the committee in 2017, citing “cultural resistance” in the Vatican.

Rev. Hans Zollner, a German Jesuit and an expert in the church's anti-abuse efforts, said in a telephone interview that the church “had gone a long way” under Francis' leadership, responding to sexual abuse in children through new guidelines and “change and integrate into Canon laws in general.”

But the church did not accept these changes uniformly, and the rules “applicable in some places, but in general.”

He said.

The survivor group said that at the pre-restrictive meeting, the cardinal should be outspoken and demanded an answer to the question “will you put into a real universal zero tolerance law?” – Advocate group demands a “one strike with you to get out” policy.

The survivor network of people who are abused by a group known as Snap said the cardinal should also be aware of how each pope candidate deals with allegations of abuse. Last month, the group launched the Cendave Watch, a project that scrutinized how some cardinals handle abuse cases.

The group assembled the archives and asked the Vatican to investigate the records of 20 cardinals, including some frequently cited Pope contenders. The list also includes cardinals who are not widely considered candidates, but the handling of abuse cases has attracted media attention, especially in the United States.

Peter Isely, the Milwaukee’s snapshot leader, said at a press conference in Rome on Wednesday that any cardinal “who has been a bad or covered up a sexual crime should not be the pope.” He said: “It seems to be a reasonable and relevant standard and should be a priority for voting cardinals.”

The Cardinal, who was publicly accused of inappropriate cases, spoke with representatives of the survivor group to resolve the allegations.

Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, an archive and advocacy group, said the church's reassurances that it is paying attention to the issue had been “seriously undermined” by the presence at the cards meetings of a Peruvian cardinal, Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, on whom Francis had imposed sanctions in 2019 after an accusation of sexual abuse — which the cardinal has denied.

“This sends a terrible message,” Ms. Barrett Doyle said.

The Vatican declined to answer questions about whether the cardinal should be present in the meeting. At 81, he was not eligible to vote in the conference.

“Are you being abused seriously?” asked Ms. Barrett Doyle. “I just can't say it. I don't know if it's still pretending to be them, PR for them, or if they really feel shocked by it.”