http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=407808&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=

Pope 'led cover-up of child abuse by priests'
by EWAN FLETCHER
Last updated at 22:00pm on 30th September 2006

The Pope played a leading role in a systematic cover-up of child sex
abuse by Roman Catholic priests, according to a shocking documentary to
be screened by the BBC tonight.

In 2001, while he was a cardinal, he issued a secret Vatican edict to
Catholic bishops all over the world, instructing them to put the
Church's interests ahead of child safety.

The document recommended that rather than reporting sexual abuse to the
relevant legal authorities, bishops should encourage the victim,
witnesses and perpetrator not to talk about it. And, to keep victims
quiet, it threatened that if they repeat the allegations they would be
excommunicated.

The Panorama special, Sex Crimes And The Vatican, investigates the
details of this little-known document for the first time. The programme
also accuses the Catholic Church of knowingly harbouring paedophile
clergymen. It reveals that priests accused of child abuse are generally
not struck off or arrested but simply moved to another parish, often to
reoffend. It gives examples of hush funds being used to silence the
victims.

Before being elected as Pope Benedict XVI in April last year, the
pontiff was Cardinal Thomas Ratzinger who had, for 24 years, been the
head of the powerful Congregation of the Doctrine of The Faith, the
department of the Roman Catholic Church charged with promoting Catholic
teachings on morals and matters of faith. An arch-Conservative, he was
regarded as the 'enforcer' of Pope John Paul II in cracking down on
liberal challenges to traditional Catholic teachings.

Five years ago he sent out an updated version of the notorious 1962
Vatican document Crimen Sollicitationis - Latin for The Crime of
Solicitation - which laid down the Vatican's strict instructions on
covering up sexual scandal. It was regarded as so secret that it came
with instructions that bishops had to keep it locked in a safe at all
times.

Cardinal Ratzinger reinforced the strict cover-up policy by introducing
a new principle: that the Vatican must have what it calls Exclusive
Competence. In other words, he commanded that all child abuse
allegations should be dealt with direct by Rome.

Patrick Wall, a former Vatican-approved enforcer of the Crimen
Sollicitationis in America, tells the programme: "I found out I wasn't
working for a holy institution, but an institution that was wholly
concentrated on protecting itself."

And Father Tom Doyle, a Vatican lawyer until he was sacked for
criticising the church's handling of child abuse claims, says: "What you
have here is an explicit written policy to cover up cases of child
sexual abuse by the clergy and to punish those who would call attention
to these crimes by the churchmen.

"When abusive priests are discovered, the response has been not to
investigate and prosecute but to move them from one place to another. So
there's total disregard for the victims and for the fact that you are
going to have a whole new crop of victims in the next place. This is
happening all over the world."

The investigation could not come at a worse time for Pope Benedict, who
is desperately trying to mend the Church's relations with the Muslim
world after a speech in which he quoted a 14th Century Byzantine emperor
who said that Islam was spread by holy war and had brought only evil to
the world.

The Panorama programme is presented by Colm O'Gorman, who was raped by a
priest when he was 14. He said: "What gets me is that it's the same
story every time and every place. Bishops appoint priests who they know
have abused children in the past to new parishes and new communities and
more abuse happens."

Last night Eileen Shearer, director of the Catholic Office for the
Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults said: "The Catholic Church
in England and Wales (has) established a single set of national policies
and procedures for child protection work. We are making excellent
progress in protecting children and preventing abuse."

Panorama: Sex Crimes And The Vatican is on BBC1 tonight at 10.15pm.

/end


--
Fundies and trolls are cordially invited to
shove a wooden cross up their arses and rotate
at a high rate of speed. I trust you'll
be 'blessed' with a plethora of splinters.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=407808&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=

Pope 'led cover-up of child abuse by priests'
by EWAN FLETCHER
Last updated at 22:00pm on 30th September 2006

The Pope played a leading role in a systematic cover-up of child sex
abuse by Roman Catholic priests, according to a shocking documentary to
be screened by the BBC tonight.