Um, Vatican... you're just announcing this now??

[Zomby Woof]

I once taught high school in WA state, and I can tell you - it was a requirement for teacher education students before graduating to take a one quarter-hour class on child abuse, which included a comprehensive review of the LAW as it pertained to teachers. One of the laws in WA, as is the law in many other states, is to REPORT abuse immediately even if it's brought to your attention by a third party. Otherwise, as a teacher, you are considered complicit in the abuse if you keep quiet about it, should the abuse be revealed and proven at a later time. Not just sexual abuse either, but physical and emotional abuse as well.

So the Vatican announces today that well, yeah, such things should be reported. It has been their alleged policy all along, but this is the first time they are issuing a clarification. Hey, thanks! Still, they say the pope is above the law. So much for consistency in their message.

Today's news nugget from the Vatican's ongoing cover-up:

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican responded Monday to allegations that it had concealed years of clerical sex abuse by making it clear for the first time that bishops and other high-ranking clerics should report such crimes to police if required by law. Victims have charged that the Catholic Church created what amounted to a conspiracy to cover up abuse by keeping allegations that priests raped and molested children secret and not reporting them to civil authorities.

More:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100412/ap_on_re_eu/eu_church_abuse

SILENCE IS CONSENT.

[Toasterlad]

1. It's Not Surprising They Waited So Long, It's Surprising They Issued the Announcement At All.

Evil fucking organization.

[Tailormyst]

2. Only a dozen plus hundred years to late !

As long as Cardinal Law sits in a place of honor in Rome, every time they speak on this topic my reaction will be " STFU you hypocritical pieces of dog shit". Until those who did the most damage are punished instead of REWARDED then NOTHING has changed.