As of: February 15, 2024, 6:28 p.m
By: Sarah El Sheimy
Comments
Press
Split
Francis carries the image of the reformer pope.
However, activists accuse him of systematically protecting perpetrators of abuse.
Vatican City – Pope Francis apologized for the first time in 2014 for cases of abuse by Catholic clergy.
Most recently, in 2022, after numerous corpses were found in Canada, he asked God for forgiveness for the crimes committed against indigenous children in Christianization boarding schools.
At the “Anti-Abuse Summit” in 2019, the Pope presented himself as a reformer with a 21-point list.
The
Guardian
is now reporting on activists who accuse Francis of looking the other way and even favoring perpetrators over those who have been mistreated.
Anne Barrett Doyle, co-founder of Bishop Accountability, an online archive documenting cases of abuse in the Catholic Church, speaks
of a “pattern,” according to
the Guardian .
The Pope opposes actual reforms.
Ten cases since 2019 show that Francis puts the interests of accused clerics above those of those affected.
The Slovenian priest Marko Rupnik, for example, was excommunicated in 2020 after allegations of sexual and psychological assaults against nuns, but was readmitted to a diocese in 2023.
Sexual abuse survivors and members of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse) demonstrate in Rome.
© dpa / Alessandra Tarantino
Activist: Pope turns a blind eye to abuse
The
Guardian
also quotes activist Doris Reisinger, who has, among other things, dealt with cases in which priests forced nuns to have abortions.
The Pope admitted the abuse of nuns, but did not draw any conclusions from it.
On the contrary: While he publicly condemns abortions, he turns a blind eye to priests who force nuns to have abortions.
They would largely keep their fates secret because they risk being excluded from their orders and becoming homeless.
Doris Reisinger had already intervened in the case of Benedict XVI.
urged not to believe the Pope's call as chief enlightener.
During his time as Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Joseph Ratzinger allegedly knew about cases of abuse by a priest and remained inactive.
The activist Doris Reisinger.
(Archive photo) © Stefano Dal Pozzolo/EPD
Personnel decisions help perpetrators
Pope Francis also doesn't seem to look too closely at personnel issues.
The organization “Bishop Accountability” criticized a decision by the Pope last year.
Francis had appointed the Archbishop of La Plata in Argentina, Monsignor Victor Manuel Fernández, as Prefect of the Dicastery for Doctrine of the Faith.
Its tasks also include dealing with allegations of sexual abuse against clergy.
In the past, Fernández supported a priest in La Plata who had been accused several times and allowed him to continue working.
(ses)