Three defenders of victims of clerical sexual abuse required on Wednesday that the next leader of the Catholic Church put this problem at the center of his pontificate, criticizing the legacies of the last three popes.
The church has been shaken for at least three decades by scandals around the world involving pedophile priests and the cover -up of its crimes, impairing its credibility and costing hundreds of millions of dollars in agreements.
“We believe this should be the central question of the conclave,” said Peter Isely, one of the founders of the SNAP (The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests group.
He submitted a website that track the cooking allegations by senior authorities of the Church.
Criticism of the last popes
Pope Francis, who died on April 21, reiterated the promises of “zero tolerance” made by his predecessor, Bento XVI, and introduced various reforms to deal with the issue. But yours, according to the activists.
Bento was accused in a 2022 report that he had not taken action on alleged cases of sexual abuse when he was the archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982.
The pontiff, which renounced the papacy in 2013 and was 94 years old when the report was released, acknowledged the mistakes later and asked for forgiveness. He died in late 2022.
Bento, Francisco and John Paul II also faced criticism for their actions regarding the late American former Cardeal, who was accused of sexually abusing minors and adults.
In 2018, he had resigned from the Cardinian College, being expelled from the priesthood by the Vatican the following year.
Already the history of João Paulo, who led the Church between 1978 and 2005, was even more stained by accusations, especially that he turned a blind eye to the late Mexican Reverend Macial Maciel, a large funduser for the Vatican who was also a pedophile in series.
“We are doing everything within our reach (…) to challenge the hierarchy to elect someone who does not have the same history that Francis had, that Bento had, that John Paul had,” said Sarah Pearson, another SNAP representative.
On Monday (28), the issue of sexual abuse was one of the topics raised by cardinals in preparatory discussions before next week’s conclave.
The secret cardinal meeting to elect a new Pope is scheduled to begin on May 7th.
