Pope's sex abuse letter 'does not address cover-up' - Times Online

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.

 Read more - Pope's sex abuse letter 'does not address cover-up' - Times Online

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"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