ANOTHER EMPTY APOLOGY FOR PEDOPHILIC PRIESTS
It seems like the only thing Pope Francis does is apologize for the church and Vatican screw ups. And that’s been working – until now. This time he used his visit to Peru and Chile to offer a few words to the victims of sexual harassment committed by priests and people backed by the Catholic institution.
“I can’t stop expressing the pain and shame for the irretrievable grief inflicted to children by ministers of the church. It is fair to apologize.”
Well it’s not only fair to apologize but to act. What do you think the victims are going to do with your words, Francis? These words mean nothing if there is no punishment for the pedophiles, and the lack of action around these situations is something that has happened too many times.
In Karadima’s case, an influential Chilean priest with accusations dating back since the 1980s, the Vatican declared him guilty of sexual abuse to minors and ordered retirement to a life of prayer. The same thing happened with Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Order of the Legionaries of Christ who abused minors for decades. And in Luis Fernando Figari’s case, the Vatican exiled him from Peru so he could not return “except for very serious reasons”.
Am I the only one who thinks this is fucked up? How the hell is a “retirement to a life of prayer” a fair punishment for an old man who has been raping little kids since the 1980s? Maybe if the retirement was in jail, but it isn’t.
I’m sorry Francis but your words are not enough anymore. We’ve had plenty of empty apologies and cheap headlines for the news. Stop protecting pedophiles under the wings of your billionaire religious institution. We need real justice, not ‘divine’ justice and we’ve been needing it for a while.
And here I was thinking this pope was different…
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Illustration by Ronan Porter