The next time someone tells you that “Pope Francis is different” when it comes to child sexual abuse, invite that person to think about this:
If you steal a few Vatican documents and expose corruption, you WILL go to Vatican jail.
From today’s LA Times
The books, both by Italian journalists, are based on leaks from the Vatican and follow the arrests over the weekend of a Spanish priest and an Italian public relations consultant suspected of supplying the authors with stolen documents.
Father Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, 54, remains in jail at the Vatican, but consultant Francesca Chaouqui, 33, was released after her arrest by Vatican police.
BUT – If you sexually abuse children or cover up abuse, you will NOT go to the Vatican hoosegow. But the Vatican will put aside money to “accelerate things.”
From The New York Times, June 10, 2015
Father Lombardi said the tribunal would also examine some of the abuse cases perpetrated by clergy members that were “still pending” at the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. “They are still very numerous and have accumulated,” he said. The tribunal will “accelerate” matters, he said, noting that money had been set aside to bolster the new section.
If Francis truly wanted to punish child sex abusers or their enablers, he would. But he won’t.
The arrests and jailing of Balda and Chaouqui proves that the Vatican is doing little more than providing “lip service” to victims and Catholics who want accountability. That is totally unacceptable.
I do not use the present pope’s name because I do not think the Poor Man of Assisi deserves the shame this man brings to the name. Of the last 3 popes this man is the worst. When he was selected by the Vatican to be pope they gave him a mandate which is to get the world to stop talking about the ever growing child abuse within this dysfunctional institution. When this man talks about climate change he is not talking about climate change but is finding diversions to get the media and people to talk about anything but child abuse within the church. The same week this man said he takes responsibility for all the abuse within the church (as an abuse survivor I find this a ridiculous statement and a lie) he also said that he will continue to enforce the Vatican policy on child abuse which is to tell heads of dioceses around the world that all abuse cases must never be reported to local authorities but only to the Vatican thus preserving the secrecy in which all child abuse thrives. Also the same week the ‘committee’ this pope appointed a year earlier issued their ‘report’ which is that something needs to be done (but offered no suggestions) but that no laws from local jurisdictions would be considered because they are obliged to follow the ‘moral’ law as if laws making the abuse of children a crime are somehow immoral. I was abused from birth by parents, extended family and people outside the family including nuns and priests. There is no part of my life that is pre-abuse. I hope the day comes when the world demands answers from catholic laity why they allowed these people to talk over their church just as the world demanded answers from the German people why they allowed the Nazis to take over their country.
I agree.the Pope with his sainting of a sadistic Franciscan priest who enslaved native California Indians and enabled rape and murder of the native women from syphillus and other diseases and then genocide of the culture is a disturbed leader of a cult that punishes whistle blowers and promotes criminals