Clergy abuse survivors propose new 'zero tolerance' law following outcry over Vatican appointment
Source: Associated Press
Clergy abuse survivors propose new ‘zero tolerance’ law following outcry over Vatican appointment
BY NICOLE WINFIELD
Updated 10:47 AM EDT, October 2, 2023
ROME (AP) — Clergy sexual abuse survivors on Monday unveiled a proposed new church law calling for the permanent removal of abusive priests and superiors who covered for them, as they stepped up their outrage over Pope Francis’ choice to head the Vatican office that investigates sex crimes.
The global advocacy group End Clergy Abuse unveiled the draft law at a press conference following days of protests around the Vatican, and before taking their complaints to the U.N. in Geneva. They are seeking to draw attention to the ongoing scandal in the Catholic Church and the failure of Francis and the hierarchy to make good on years of pledges of “zero tolerance” for abuse.
Specifically, the survivors have expressed astonishment at Francis’ nomination of an old friend and theologian, Cardinal Victor Fernandez, to take over as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, given Fernandez’s record handling cases as bishop in his native Argentina.
When Fernández was bishop of La Plata, Argentina, he refused to promptly remove one of his priests, Eduardo Lorenzo, who was repeatedly accused of abusing teens. Ten years after a victim first came forward, and hours after learning that an Argentine judge had ordered his arrest, Lorenzo was found dead in 2019 in what was ruled a suicide. Fernandez had stood by Lorenzo and officiated at his funeral.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/vatican-abuse-pope-fernandez-clergy-bishop-argentina-055dc39ffa35f1626b1668996549088e
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