Campaigners for the victims of sexual abuse in Ireland claimed the Pope's letter failed to address the "core issue" of why the perpetrators were protected.
Sexual abuse charity One in Four said the Catholic Church was "still in denial", while a survivor of abuse said the apology did not address the cover-up.
One in Four director Maeve Lewis said: “Victims were hoping for an acknowledgement of the scurrilous ways in which they have been treated as they attempted to bring their experiences of abuse to the attention of the church authorities.
“Pope Benedict has passed up a glorious opportunity to address the core issue in the clerical sexual abuse scandal: the deliberate policy of the Catholic Church at the highest levels to protect sex offenders, thereby endangering children.
“If the Church cannot acknowledge this fundamental truth, it is still in denial.”
Andrew Madden, who in 1995 was the first person to go public win an abuse lawsuit against the church, said: “The apology today is not for the cover-up, it’s for the abuse and for the most part they didn’t commit the abuse but they caused some because of the cover-up.
“That’s the bit they should say sorry for.
Related links:
Pope Offers Apology, Not Penalty, for Sex Abuse Scandal – by RACHEL DONADIO and ALAN COWELL – The New York Times – Read more
Father Hans Kung blames Catholic views on sex for clerical child abuse – by Ruth Gledhill – Mar 9, 2010 - Times Online - Read more
Pope letter on Catholic sex abuse scandal meets Irish skepticism - Christian Science Monitor - Read more
Merkel demands "truth and clarity" on abuse scandal – Reuters – Read more
Pope's Irish letter faces critical Catholic world - By Shawn Pogatchnik - Associated Press Write – Boston.com – Read more
Full Disclosure - The Roman Catholic Church must confront its failings with contrition – TimesOnline – Read more
Catholic Church sex abuse scandals around the world – BBC News – Read more
This about the reckless endangerment of children in a calculated, purposeful strategy to protect the institutional Church - By Jason Walsh – December 2, 2009 - The Christian Science Monitor – Read more
New Catholic Sex Abuse Findings: Gay Priests Are Not the Problem – by DAVID GIBSON – Politics Daily - November 18, 2009 - Read more
Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation, Dr. Gregory Herek, University of California at Davis & Yale University & City University of New York – Read more
RC hierarchy child sexual abuse “cover-ups” ordered by Benedict XVI to avoid public outrage & criminal charges - falsely accused gay priests WATERGATE? Read more
Ratzinger, Hurley, Maida & Accomplices - Kids Are Being Hurt!!! (Sequential Order of Reactions) Read more
"Someday, maybe, there will exist a well-informed, well-considered, and yet fervent public conviction that the most deadly of all possible sins is the mutilation of a child's spirit." Erik Erikson
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