Five years ago, Pope Francis summoned to the Vatican the presidents of episcopal conferences from around the world, as well as the superiors of religious orders, for an unprecedented summit on the protection of minors, which would lead to new rules on their responsibility regarding to this scourge. If this summit was a first, the revelation of numerous scandals since the meeting, often under pressure from the media and from the faithful, nevertheless shows the internal resistance within the Catholic Church, while the victims demand justice.
Many admit, the summit organized five years ago at the Vatican on pedophilia in the Church marked a break. But the process initiated, namely creating a dynamic to make bishops and religious superiors responsible for their failings, has not gone far enough.
Anne Barret-Doyle is the founder of the American site “BischopAccountability”, a platform which collects data on bishops accused of abuse around the world, and collects the words of victims. “ This is what a new era of impunity was going to look like with this idea: we are going to punish bad bishops, we believed in a precedent, but it turned out to be false “, she says.
If Anne Barret-Dolye expresses her bitterness today, it is because sexual assault scandals have not diminished in the Church… On the contrary, speech has become freer in certain countries, particularly Western ones. .
A few months after the summit was held, Pope Francis signed a decree, Vos Estis Lux Mundi, which set new rules requiring bishops and religious superiors to denounce cases of abuse. But the lack of transparency that follows these denunciations leaves many victims’ associations like BishopAccountability skeptical. “ The procedure is completely secret… It does not involve any independent structure. The irony is that Pope Francis himself said that clericalism was a scourge that had led to abuse, yet he made a new law that is very clerical. Everything remains under the control of the top of the hierarchy, the bishops and the Vatican. »
A lack of transparency
The scourge of child crime in the Church has shaken both the faithful and religious leaders around the world. But awareness always seems to be twofold, depending on whether one is a simple Catholic or a prelate. Massimo Faggioli is professor of church history at Villanova University in the United States. “ I believe that the main change has been at the level of cultural awareness, on the part of many Catholics, but less among a majority of bishops or cardinals. There have been changes from a legislative perspective, but the problem remains the lack of transparency and accountability “, he explains.
Last week in Rome, two victims of a Slovenian priest, mosaic artist, Marko Rupnik broke the silence, recounting the abuses suffered for years, sexual assaults or manipulation of consciences… The Rupnik affair caused scandal to the highest high summit of the Church. Expelled from the Jesuit order, the Slovenian cleric has long been close to Pope Francis. Its victims today are demanding justice and transparency. Some believe that the Pope himself does not apply the own rules he gave to the Church. The Mario Rupnik case is nevertheless being studied by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican and could soon lead to a trial.