Pope accused of crimes against humanity by victims of sex abuse

[cleanhippie]

Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests have accused the pope, the Vatican secretary of state and two other high-ranking Holy See officials of crimes against humanity, in a formal complaint to the international criminal court (ICC).

The submission, lodged at The Hague on Tuesday, accuses the four men not only of failing to prevent or punish perpetrators of rape and sexual violence but also of engaging in the "systematic and widespread" practice of concealing sexual crimes around the world.

It includes individual cases of abuse where letters and documents between Vatican officials and others show a refusal to co-operate with law enforcement agencies seeking to pursue suspects, according to the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a US-based organisation that represents the claimants.

Pam Spees, human rights attorney with CCR, said: "The point of this is to look at it from a higher altitude. You zoom out and the practices are identical: whistleblowers are punished, the refusal of the Vatican to co-operate with law enforcement agencies. You see the protection of priests and leaving them in the ministry and because of these decisions other children are raped and sexually assaulted."

She said: "It's not only the facts of the abuse but the way that the church deepened the harm in sometimes irreparable ways."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/13/pope-crimes-humanity-victims-abuse

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


It's about fucking time.

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[Sherman A1]

1. Superb!

I hope this is just the beginning.

[peace frog]

2. Long past due

May justice prevail.

[deacon_sephiroth]

3. it won't, but here's to hope. n/t

[cleanhippie]

4. Not A PEEP from our believers on this.

Interesting.

[socialshockwave]

5. And what the hell is that supposed to mean?

That "believers" must support the Pope ten thousand percent? I'm as appalled by the Catholic Church's silence as ANYONE. At least Benedict has met with victims and apologized.

[laconicsax]

6. That no believers, especially Catholic DUers have commented on this.

I haven't seen you around here much, so I'll summarize:

There are a handful of regular posters who frequently defend the Pope and RCC on threads about the serial child rape perpetuated by clergy. It is interesting that none of them have commented on this thread. You may be surprised how many people who post here aren't appalled by the RCC and Benedict's action--at least not outwardly.

[trotsky]

7. Or those who react by somehow insisting that Christopher Hitchens' position on the Iraq War...

is just as damning to all atheists.

[sudopod]

8. To be fair, he is the Atheist King.

I did't vote for him, though.

[trotsky]

9. No one votes for a king.

I guess that's why violence is inherent in the system. ;)

[sudopod]

10. lol ^_^ nt

[rug]

12. Probably because the ICC will reject the complaint.

Just a guess.

[LeftishBrit]

14. As someone who doesn't believe in any religion and certainly not Catholicism...

I think that there *is* a point to be made that this horrific abuse scandal involves institutional corruption, rather than a theological issue. In any big hierarchical and closely interconnected organization, it is easy for evils and abuses to be perpetrated and covered up; 'organization men' protected from the consequences of vicious actions; and whistleblowers silenced or punished. This does not necessarily condemn the *original beliefs* of members of the organization (just as the abuses of Stalin are not necessarily a condemnation of philosophical communism, or 9-11 a condemnation of all of Islam).

I suppose I am thinking of this, because I was recently talking to a Tory who seemed to think that hypocritical or corrupt actions on the part of some Labour politicians are a condemnation of Labour views as a whole and a justification for Toryism.

There can of course be arguments that the emphasis on Papal and church authority on theological matters may have increased the likelihood of institutional authoritarianism in other matters. But I think this needs to be made explicit, rather than just assuming that the abuse scandal indicts the theological beliefs of Catholicism, i.e. that the Catholic faith actually supports or condones child abuse.

I *do* however find some of the *theological* attitudes of the contemporary Catholic church damaging in themselves: notably the opposition to contraception, and such terms as 'culture of death' and 'dictatorship of moral relativism' which are used to justify religious-right intrusion into secular laws.

[struggle4progress]

11. It doesn't make much sense as a complaint, as far as I can tell: Ratzinger was a German

bishop and archbishop until the early 80s, when he became responsible for doctrinal matters; he became Pope around 2005

Most of the Catholic sex abuse cases date from the fifty year period 1950-2000, so it's hard for me to see Ratzinger as the responsible party

Moreover, ugly as improper interaction with children is, the abuse cases don't really seem to me comparable to (say) the ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia or the Rwandan genocides -- which is the sort of thing the ICC was established to handle

[Deep13]

13. Even if I still believed in god I would have to admit...

...Ratzinger is a monster.

[rizlaplus]

15. Ratzinger handled 3,000 cases of child abuse!

Ratzinger's new rules on child abuse in 2001 required bishops to send the cases on to him at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). From that date the CDF, under Ratzinger until he became Pope, handled 3,000 child abuse cases. Guess how many times he informed the civil authorities? Okay then, guess how many times he recommended to the bishops, in authority over the alleged abusing priest, to call in the civil authorities?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

NONE

:wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

Points to note:

Mandatory reporting is still forbidden by the Church's canon law rules.

Ratzinger, when head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), personally investigated 3,000 cases of child abuse, and he did not refer ANY of those cases to the civil authorities nor did he recommend to the bishops, in authority over the abusing clergy, to pass the cases on to the civil and legal authorities in their respective countries.

The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) is the office in the Vatican that ignored requests from the Murphy Commission for cooperation into its inquiry. They never even bothered to acknowledge the Murphy Commission's requests.

Some of the information Ireland's Murphy/Cloyne Commission requested may reference Ratzinger's role in the cover-up of child abuse by clergy.

http://www.catholica.com.au/forum/index.php?mode=thread&id=82991