Catholic Pontiff Pope Francis is under pressure to resign following a recent Pennsylvania grand jury report that about 300 priests or higher ranking officials had sexually abused more than 1,000 children.
The recently released report also revealed that bishops and other top church officials tried to conceal the crimes; an allegation the state’s Attorney General claimed “went all the way to the Vatican.”
Despite the Vatican releasing a statement days after the news broke and claiming to be on the side of the victims, the report still puts Pope Francis’ post to serious threat after replacing Pope Benedict XVI just five years ago.
Vatican spokesman Greg Burke termed the grand jury’s documented report on incidents of abuse as “betrayals of trust that robbed survivors of their dignity and their faith.”
“The church must learn hard lessons from its past, and there should be accountability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur,” he said.
Catholics and observers, however, view the Vatican’s acknowledgement of the criminal behavior too little, too late.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, in a full page on the New York Times, urged people to leave the church. Their ad read in part: “Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who are responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all. Six dioceses, three hundred predatory priests, a staggering 1,000-plus victims.
“No bishops indicted. The pope’s response? All words, no action – except, insultingly, to call on the faithful to ‘pray and fast.’”
The advert in the Times comes after the pope was taken to task on Sunday by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former ambassador to the U.S.
Source: Fox News
By Samuel Mayowa
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