Pope Francis Wants “Decisive Action” On Sex Abuse Cases

At least rhetorically, Pope Francis continues to send indications that he’s interested in flipping over a few tables in Rome:

Pope Francis has called for “decisive action” in the fight against sex abuse of minors by priests.

He told Bishop Gerhard Mueller, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith – the Vatican watchdog that deals with sex abuse cases – to ensure that perpetrators were punished.

It was the Argentine Pope’s first public statement on clerical sex abuse.

A leading sex abuse survivors’ group has responded with scepticism, saying “actions speak louder than words”.

(…)

In his remarks on Friday, Pope Francis said combating the crisis – which has mired the Church in scandal from the US, Ireland and Europe to Australia – was important for the credibility of the Church.

A Vatican statement said the Pope had urged Bishop Mueller to “act decisively as far as cases of sexual abuse are concerned, promoting, above all, measures to protect minors, help for those who have suffered such violence in the past (and) the necessary procedures against those who are guilty”.

The survivor’s group is right that actions speak louder than words, but the fact that this seems to be another example over the past three weeks in which the new Pope has distanced himself from the Roman Curia and even his predecessors suggests that there may be more to this than just rhetoric. If he can pull it off,  Francis may end up be much more of a reformist Pope than anyone anticipated when he stepped out on that balcony last month.

FILED UNDER: Religion, , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. He told Bishop Gerhard Mueller, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith – the Vatican watchdog that deals with sex abuse cases – to ensure that perpetrators were punishedturned over to the police.

    FTFY, Francis

  2. Tony W says:

    What a wonderful position to be in for this new pope. The bar is so low for moral behavior in the Catholic church that even behaving in a reasonable, non-sociopathic manner brands you a “reformist”

  3. rodney dill says:

    @Tony W:

    The bar is so low for moral behavior in the Catholic church

    They are all admitted sinners afterall.

  4. Barry says:

    Doug: “The survivor’s group is right that actions speak louder than words, but the fact that this seems to be another example over the past three weeks in which the new Pope has distanced himself from the Roman Curia and even his predecessors suggests that there may be more to this than just rhetoric. ”

    As the group said, actions speak louder than words. A new leader promising reforms is one thing; doing them is another.