Pope Francis’s powerful words about the protection of children abused by priests

While many bishops and good and dedicated priests from the Philippines and other parties examine their consciousness regarding their responsibility to bring pedophiles to justice, many others are not. In the past, Pope Francis that remains hospitalized has spoken strongly about the urgent need to clean the institution of priests who abuse the children and the religious. “A priest cannot remain a priest if he is abuser,” he said.

As successor to Saint Peter and the vicar of Christ, Francis speaks with authority in the urging of the Church to take responsibility for the large -scale sexual abuses, which has come to light in the last 20 years and the constant concealment of bishops and priests. “I will be responsible that it will not happen again,” he told CNN Portugal, as a result of the shocking disclosures of such an abuse there. Frequently, the bishops, priests and secular leaders were removed from the victims, even blaming them because they tempted the priests who raped them. They let it happen and it was shameful. In the Philippines, this happens yet because no priest has ever been convicted. People believe that some bishops believe they are holy and over the law.

In an interview, Pope Francis said he was trying to establish the “zero tolerance” of abuse, but it was difficult to do. He may have said “a priest cannot remain a priest if he is abuser”, but many bishops do not seem to agree. They ignore the victims of the child and reassure the abusive priest until they are likely to abuse more children, instead of allowing prosecutors and courts to pursue justice.

All eyes are now in the continuous case of the closed parent. Karole Reward Israel in Cagayan, where there is a testimony of the multiple acts of rape and sexual aggression that he had committed against a 15-year-old girl. He acknowledged in documents, but said they were consensual, although he recorded them and used them to blackmail the adolescent so as not to report abuse. Even though she was traumatized, she reported abuse of a friend. We hope and pray for the brave judge in Cagayan to follow his consciousness and evidence to the place where he will eventually lead to the truth.

These various disclosures of scandals of clerical sexual abuse and their original coverage make the church look like an accessory for these offenses. The loss of credibility and trust in the Catholic hierarchy is increasing. When Francis was chosen in March 2013 as a spiritual leader of the 1.2 billion Catholics in the world, he was determined to end the abuse of clergy children. But many bishops have resisted, preferring to cover and hope that there will be no civil cases to bankrupt their dioceses. They frequently quoted the “pontized secret”, an old rule that wrongly advised the church leaders not to report the clerical abuse to the local authorities. He prevented any church cooperation with prosecutors and police when requesting legal information. As a result, he blocked the discussion of cases outside the circle of church authorities.

In December 2019, Pope Francis made the historical decision to cancel and eliminate the pontifical secret. Instead, he made the reporting of clerical abuse in children compulsory for all clergy and religious. For the first time, he ordered each diocese to establish reporting mechanisms for reporting clerical abuses and covering it. The Pontic Instruction imposed the bishops and priests to submit, to record and protect all the data on each case of abuse of clergy children and never allow to be lost or destroyed. In his wisdom, Francis also forbade the Church authorities from gaging to anyone because he reported abuse or claimed to have been abused.

Then, in 2022, Francis went further. He made reviews to the law of the Church and issued directives who asked the bishops to act strongly and bring priests who abuse children in court. “I do not refuse abuse. Even if it was only one (case), it is monstrous. Because you, the priest, you, the nun, you have to take the boy, that girl to God and this (sexual abuse), destroy their life. It is monstrous. It is the destruction of life. Their position for their personal satisfaction,” he said.

Francis mentioned in interviews that some leaders of the Church refuse to undergo its instructions and changes to the laws of the Church to protect children. Instead, I choose the secret. But Francis said, “There is no return. My instructions are irreversible.”

As I said earlier, the church authorities are now obliged to provide all the information and evidence regarding the cases of abuse of prosecutors and courts. Pope Francis has even removed the threat of excommunication for all Catholics who do this and will testify and provide information, as well as cooperate with prosecutors and civil courts. In other words, the highest virtue is to tell the truth about children abuse. Archbishop Charles Scicluna said that Francis’s pontified instructions were extremely significant.

Some bishops challenge Pope Francis’s instructions and continue to protect pedophile priests. These were not just rotten apples in the barrel; The whole barrel was rotten, as a reporter said. When the accused is a bishop, cardinal or religious, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the head of the Vatican Bureau for the bishops, said: “I have said for years that the priests must comply with certain strict rules, why shouldn’t the bishops and others do the same?