Meanwhile, the Vatican for decades - if not centuries - provided a different type of leadership that did not wait for others to act. When it came to protecting sexual predators among the Catholic clergy, it increasingly appears that the Vatican was fully aware of the problem and that the sole concern was to silence victims and their families and to transfer serial molesters on to new venues where their transgressions were past unknown. Only when a predator's actions were so pervasive or word got out to the media was action belatedly taken. Criminal conspiracy and obstruction of justice are apt terms for the Vatican's handling of the world wide sexual abuse problem. Now, as the New York Times is reporting, 70 victims from Belgium plan on suing the Vatican for its malfeasance. Here are story highlights:*
BRUSSELS (AP) - A group of 70 people claiming to be sexual abuse victims of clergy will take Vatican and Belgian church officials to court, claiming they offered them insufficient protection from pedophile priests.
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Lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge said Friday he will lodge the complaint in about two weeks. He said religious officials, including the pope, had failed to take proper action to prevent such abuse.
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The Belgian church got involved in a major abuse scandal last year when Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe was forced to resign after he admitted he abused for 13 years his young nephew. Later, hundreds of victims came forward with tales of abuse by clergy going back decades.
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Lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge said Friday he will lodge the complaint in about two weeks. He said religious officials, including the pope, had failed to take proper action to prevent such abuse.
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The Belgian church got involved in a major abuse scandal last year when Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe was forced to resign after he admitted he abused for 13 years his young nephew. Later, hundreds of victims came forward with tales of abuse by clergy going back decades.
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