Pope Francis’s powerful words to protect children abused by priests

While many good bishops and priests dedicated in the Philippines and in other places they are examining their awareness about their responsibility for leading pedophile clergy before justice, many more are not. In the past, Pope Francis, who remains hospitalized, has spoken strongly about the urgent need to clean the institution of priests and religious that abuse children. “A priest cannot remain a priest if he is an abuser,” he said.

As the successor of San Pedro and Vicario de Cristo, Francis speaks with authority when urging the leaders of the Church to assume the responsibility of the generalized clerical sexual abuse that has come to light in the last 20 years and their constant concealment by the bishops and priests. “I will be responsible for not happening,” Portugal told CNN Portugal following the shocking revelations of such abuse there. Often, the bishops, the priests and the lay leaders moved away from the victims, even blaming them for tempting the priests who raped them. They let him happen, and was shamefully revealed. In the Philippines, this is still happening because no priest has been convicted. People think that some bishops believe they are holy and above the law.

In an interview, Pope Francis said he was trying to establish the “zero tolerance” of abuse, but was difficult to do. He may have said “a priest cannot remain a priest if he is an abuser,” but many bishops do not seem to agree. They ignore children’s victims and reallocate the abusive priest where he is likely to abuse more children, instead of allowing prosecutors and courts to pursue justice.

All eyes are now in the current case of the father in jail. Karole rewards Israel in Cagayan, where testimony of the multiple acts of sexual violation and aggression that supposedly committed against a 15 -year -old girl is heard. He admitted the acts, but said they were agreed, although he had registered them and had used them to blackmail the adolescent not to inform the abuse. Although he was traumatized, he informed the abuse of a friend. We hope and pray that the brave judge in Cagayan follows his conscience and the evidence of where he would eventually lead to the truth.

These various revelations of scandals of clerical sexual abuse and their initial cover -up cause the Church to seem an accessory for these crimes. The loss of credibility and trust in the Catholic hierarchy is growing. When Francis was chosen in March 2013 as the spiritual leader of the 1,200 million Catholics in the world, he was determined to end children’s clerical abuse. But many bishops resisted, preferring to cover themselves and hope there were no civil cases that break their dioceses. They often cited the “Pontifical Secret”, an old rule that erroneously advised the church leaders who do not denounce the clerical abuse of local authorities. He asked for any cooperation of the Church with prosecutors and the police when he was looking for legal information. Consequently, he blocked the discussion of cases outside the circle of the Church authorities.

In December 2019, Pope Francis made the historical decision to cancel and abolish the pontificate secret. Instead, he made the report of clerical abuse of mandatory child abuse for all clergy and religious. For the first time, he ordered each diocese to establish report mechanisms to inform the clerical abuse and its cover -ups. The pontifical instruction required that the bishops and priests will present, register and protect all the data with respect to each case of children’s clerical abuse and never allow to be lost or destroyed. In his wisdom, Francis also prohibited the church authorities to vomit anyone for informing abuses or said they had been abused.

Then, in 2022, Francis went further. He made reviews to the Church’s Law and issued directives who demanded that bishops acting strongly and leading priests who abuse children before justice. “I do not deny abuse. Even if it were just a (case), it is monstrous. Because you, priest, you, nun, you have to take that boy, that girl to God and with this (sexual abuse), destroy their lives. It is monstrous. He is destroying lives. This is something about abuse; position for his personal satisfaction,” he said.

Francis pointed out in the interviews that some church leaders refuse to obey their instructions and changes in the laws of the Church to protect children. They choose the secret in their place. But Francis said: “There is no going back. My instructions are irreversible.”

As I said before, the Church authorities must now provide all the information and evidence on cases of abuse to prosecutors and courts. Pope Francis has even eliminated the threat of excommunication to all Catholics who do so and will testify and provide information, as well as cooperate with prosecutors and civil courts. In other words, the highest virtue is to tell the truth about child abuse. Archbishop Charles Scicluna said that Francisco’s Pontifical Instruction was very significant.

Some bishops challenge Pope Francis’s instructions and continue to protect pedophile priests. These were not just some rotten apples in the barrel; The whole barrel was rotten, as a journalist said. When the defendant is a bishop, cardinal or religious, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Vatican office for bishops, said: “We have said for years that priests must adjust to certain strict rules, so why shouldn’t the bishops and others in the hierarchy?