A column in the Guardian by a female victim - yes, there are female victims too, even though the Church would try to depict all predators as gays - of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest that lays out why Benedict XVI and other high members of the Catholic Church hierarchy need to face criminal prosecution. Sadly, I doubt that it will happen because the Church is still afforded too much deference and its wealth and power continues to allow it to avoid the consequences of crimes that would put others in prison for many years. But nonetheless, it should happen if the Church is ever going to be forced to full atone for the horrors it knowingly allowed to be perpetrated against children and youths. Here are some column highlights:When it comes to holding the Catholic Church accountable for sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy, all roads lead to Rome. That is what my organisation, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (Snap), concluded after years of seeking justice in other venues and being turned away.
On 13 September, we travelled to the Hague to file an 84-page complaint and over 20,000 pages of supporting materials with the International Criminal Court, documenting our charge that the Pope and Vatican officials have tolerated and enabled the systematic and widespread concealing of rape and child sex crimes throughout the world.
Holding childhood photographs that tell a wrenching story of innocence and faith betrayed, and joined by our attorneys from the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, we stood up and demanded the justice that has so long been denied.
We believe the thousands of pages of evidence we filed this week will substantiate our allegations that an operation has been put in place not only to hide the widespread sexual violence by priests in all parts of the world, but also to obstruct investigation, remove suspects out of criminal jurisdictions and do everything possible to silence victims, discredit whistleblowers, intimidate witnesses, stonewall prosecutors and keep a tighter lid than ever on clergy sex crimes and cover-ups. The result of this systematic effort is that, despite a flood of well-publicised cases, many thousands of children remain vulnerable to abuse.
Worse, no one who ignored, concealed or enabled these predators has suffered any consequences. At the head of this hierarchy of denial and secrecy is the Pope, who has served as an enabler of these men.
I know this story well, because I was sexually abused by a parish priest, from my time in junior high school until graduation. Because of the shame and trauma, several years passed before I was able to tell anyone. By that time, it was too late to file criminal charges. Church officials refused to restrict that priest's access to children or take action against him for several more years, despite other victims coming forward.
Indeed, powerful factors prevent all but the most assertive, healthy and lucky victims from seeking justice. Many others succumb to drugs, anorexia, depression or suicide when the pain of innocence betrayed becomes too much to bear. A recent investigation in Australia revealed a case in which 26 among the numerous victims of a particular priest had committed suicide.
For the safety of children and the prevention of yet more heinous wrongdoing, the International Criminal Court may be the only real hope.
My only fault with the column is when the author states "No doubt, many people of faith are shocked that we would accuse a world church leader of crimes against humanity." These are not people of faith. No, they are those who knowingly and deliberately continue to close their eyes to the truth because they are too lazy, dim witted, and/or self-centered to admit the truth - including their role as accessories to these terrible crimes.
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