at The start of the abuse summit in the Vatican bishops of the Pope, the visiting, cardinals, patriarchs and religious Conscience talking. “In the face of the Evil of sexual abuse of Minors by men of the Church, it was my wish that we leave all together to the Holy spirit and hear us obedient, to give the cry of the Small hearing, the justice of the request,” said Francis. At the Meeting the weight of the pastoral and ecclesiastical obligation, to discuss thoroughly about how the Evil could be addressed laste. Self-evident convictions would not be sufficient: “There needs to be specific,” he said.

However, it is precisely in the adoption of concrete measures, observers, and victims ‘ associations-doubt in equal measure. The Vatican itself had warned in recent weeks against too great expectations of the conference. First of all, it’s just a matter of developing globally applicable guidelines, as with child molesters is to be the method from the clergy. Complicated that’s because the is aware of of advanced be becoming in some areas of the world and some Church leaders, while others are still at the very beginning. Three and a half days of example, is going to take lots of peaks only. The disappointment is programmed.

voice of the Voiceless

All the drama in one word: “Survivors”, Survivors. So those people who were abused by Catholic clergy sexually abused when they were small called in English. Boys, Girls. But also young adults, seminarians or religious sisters. The long Silence of the Church has swallowed: their voices, their stories, their Suffering. And so are traveled a few dozen of them to Rome, to be at least locally, if the Vatican has for the first Time in a comprehensive and global with his darkest side. Inside, in the Aula Nuova del Sinodo, the new Synod hall, where the conference takes place, not you. But we hear you.

they have organised themselves, for example in the international network of ECA, in which victims ‘ associations from 18 countries and four continents have found. The acronym stands for “Ending Clergy Abuse”: abuse by clerics to finish. Or in the case of the American Internet platform of “Bishop Accountability”, Episcopal accountability, which collects tens of thousands of documents about abuse cases and archived. And in “Voices of Faith”, an international Association of Catholic women, denouncing, among other things, the mistreatment of nuns, another shameful Chapter. Parallel to the very limited public summit of the presidents of the Episcopal conferences to be running in Rome, so a counter-summit of the Survivors, the “Survivors”. Very open to the public.

March to the zero tolerance

After each press briefing in the Vatican under the victim to inform the media about their view of things, right in front of the press-service of the Vatican, Via della Conciliazione, the major access Avenue to St. Peter’s square. In the days before the summit, all of these associations had occurred in the centre of the Roman foreign press, which was attended for the occasions as well as rare. On Saturday a rally in Piazza del Popolo, is planned. It bears the name “March to Zero Tolerance”, March to the zero tolerance. So the big slogan in the fight against the sexual abuse of minors is years.

they had no means to such a counter-summit professional raise, said the Americans Peter Isely, a co-founder of ECA. “But it’s already healing, that we are here,” he said. Isely, from Wisconsin, was in need of 13 by a priest, belonged to a group of twelve men and women were invited the day before the Conference kick-off for a Meeting in the Vatican, on behalf of all Concerned.

The Pope was not there

Two hours the Meeting lasted, on the verge of not even been clear where it would occur, who would be there, everything was improvised. Then there was the official Bulletin of the Vatican press office. Therein it was said, the preparatory Committee of the conference thanks to the Victims that they had containers with your stuff, the understanding of the “Severity” and “urgency” of the matter to be sharpened. The Church was obviously not trying to seem insensitive: most of The victims had travelled at their own expense to Rome, from everywhere.

The Pope but that wasn’t going to, and the many disappointed. Isely said later that they had visited, after all, “the Pope at home”. All: Francis. When Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope, the hope was great. That he called himself Francis, after the Saint of Assisi, seemed like a guarantee that everything would be better, says Isely.

But it doesn’t take much, and the hope is gone. Namely, if the summit does not write to the Vatican for ever, that clerics who have passed in children, and bishops who cover them, are placed in the lay state. “The Pope,” says Isely, “can implement it with the stroke of a pen.” Francis was finally the boss.

Italy residue

The probability that it will be at the end of this abuse conference such a stroke of the pen, is very small. For some “Survivor” is the Moment, nevertheless unique, such as for Francesco Zanardi, 48 years old, from the Ligurian Savona. He was eleven when him “Don Nello”, a young pastor, took for the first Time, miss. Zanardi told that he had to 30 is not a normal sex life, have ashamed the drug. It was only when “Don Nello,” passed also to the other boys, was convicted, found Zanardi the courage to talk publicly about it. Six years ago, he founded the network “L’abuso” (abuse), since then almost a thousand more victims.

in Spite of its intensive public Relations work in recent years, Zanardi was the big audience hardly known. This has to do with the Catholic Church in Italy, cases of abuse are still displaced. To change this, you’d submit a character, but a double would be necessary by the Italian state and the Vatican. Italian bishops are not obliged to report criminal charges against a child molester, as is the case elsewhere. So it is in the Lateran treaties, the rules of the separation of Church and state. (Editorial Tamedia)

Created: 21.02.2019, 21:19 PM