Popes Letter of Apology Inadequate - Vatican Takes No Responsibility

DUBLIN — Pope Benedict XVI's unprecedented letter to Ireland apologizing for chronic child abuse within the Catholic Church failed last week to calm the anger of many victims, who accused the Vatican of ducking its own responsibility in promoting a worldwide culture of cover-up.

Benedict's message – the product of weeks of consultation with Irish bishops, who read it aloud at Masses across this predominantly Catholic nation – rebuked Ireland's church leaders for "grave errors of judgment" in failing to observe the church's secretive canon laws.

The pope, who himself stands accused of approving the transfer of an accused priest for treatment rather than informing German police during his 1977-82 term as Munich archbishop, suggested that child-abusing priests could have been expelled quickly had Irish bishops applied the church's own laws correctly. He pledged a church inspection of unspecified dioceses and orders in Ireland to ensure their child-protection policies were effective.
He also appealed to priests still harboring sins of child molestation to confess.
"Openly acknowledge your guilt, submit yourselves to the demands of justice, but do not despair of God's mercy," he wrote.
But Benedict offered no endorsement of three official Irish investigations that found the church leadership to blame for the scale and longevity of abuse heaped on Irish children throughout the 20th century. The Vatican refused to cooperate with those 2001-09 probes into the Dublin Archdiocese, the rural Ferns diocese and Ireland's defunct network of workhouse-style dormitory schools for the Irish poor.

The investigations, directed by senior Irish judges and lawyers, ruled that Catholic leaders protected the church's reputation from scandal at the expense of children – and began passing their first abuse reports to police in 1996 only after victims began to sue the church.
Nor did Benedict's letter mention recent revelations of abuse cover-ups in a growing list of European nations, particularly his German homeland, where more than 300 claimants this year have alleged abuse in Catholic schools and a choir long run by the pope's brother.

Vatican axed trial for priest accused by deaf boys:

The Vatican on Thursday strongly defended its decision not to defrock an American priest accused of molesting some 200 deaf boys in Wisconsin and denounced what it called a campaign to smear Pope Benedict XVI and his aides.
Church and Vatican documents showed that in the mid-1990s, two Wisconsin bishops urged the Vatican office led by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — now the pope — to let them hold a church trial against the Rev. Lawrence Murphy. The bishops admitted the trial was coming years after the alleged abuse, but argued that the deaf community in Milwaukee was demanding justice from the church.

An American protester in Rome on Thursday called the Murphy case an "incontrovertible case of pedophilia."Despite the extensive and grave allegations against Murphy, Ratzinger's deputy at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ruled that the alleged molestation had occurred too long ago and that Murphy — then ailing and elderly — should instead repent and be restricted from celebrating Mass outside of his diocese.
The official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone — now the Vatican's secretary of state — ordered the church trial halted after Murphy wrote Ratzinger a letter saying he was ill, infirm, and "simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood."

After a further interview with Murphy a church official reported that the priest showed no remorse for what he had done and did not seem repentant .

Why are these men allowed to hide behind the church, with it's full approval, I might add ? Why are they given a slap on the wrist, a few Hail Marys and absolution? They merely have to say they repent and they can go freely about their business. Most of them are just transferred to another post when the complaints get too many and too angry.

The Vatican, that holy of holies, must protect the reputation of the Catholic Church at all costs. What is the sacrifice of a few hundred thousands of children compared to that ?

The situation must be addressed by the church and the government. Perhaps the government could provide it's own investigators, on a local level, who would regularily review each church .

I also believe there are many men who join the priesthood for all the wrong reasons, with just such nefarious purposes in mind. There should be an investigation into the backgrounds of all prospective priests for any clue of inappropriate behavior. A liason between church and government could conduct these investigations. If I was a Catholic , my faith in the church would be severely undermined.

If you are a survivor of abuse by a priest you can contact the website below:

SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) http://www.snapnetwork.org/