FollowIn just a little more than one year, Pope Francis has managed produce a great deal of astonishment all over the world. Maybe the Argentinians and his previous peers had a clue about how his papacy will take place, but for the rest of the world, the present leader of the Catholic world is a permanent source of surprise. John Paul II was a very popular religious leader, but Francis has all the prerequisites to enjoy an even greater amount of popularity. One reason would be that without prior planning, Pope Francis talks to sexual abuse victims on Monday.
Religious leaders usually take conservative measures and Benedict XVI’s eight years papacy has been a sound example of conservative approaches in papal politics. For a change, Pope Francis is a strong defender of the poor and a deeply active political figure. Advocating for social justice and drawing attention to flawed financial organisms are among his most relevant actions. People started feeling that they can address the Pope with what they view as the crucial problems of today’s Catholic Church affairs. Sexual misconduct allegations have plagued the Catholic Church for a long time and Pope Francis seems ready to directly address the thorny issue. It is a crucial step to be made, because among the consequences of sexual abuse is the potential loss of the ability to control emotions and impulses for lifetime.
Pope Francis talks to sexual abuse victims for hours about their experiences
Today Pope Francis engaged in private talks for four hours with six persons who recounted the sexual abuse committed upon them by Catholic Church clerics. An Irish women said she informed the Pope how the clerics’ actions being covered-up by bishops. The victims are from Ireland, Great Britain and Germany. Afterwards, the Pope made some announcements.
“There is no place in the Church’s ministry for those who commit these abuses, and I commit myself not to tolerate harm done to a minor by any individual, whether a cleric or not,”, Pope Francis declared according to Reuters. “All bishops must carry out their pastoral ministry with the utmost care in order to help foster the protection of minors, and they will be held accountable.”
Numerous victims’ associations welcomed the Pope’s statements, although some are reluctant that real change will occur. Now they are all eager to see subsequent action undertaken by the leader of the Catholic Church.
This March the church officials stated that 3420 credible accusations of abuse have been filed. A total number of 824 priests have been released from their positions while the rest have to continue their lives of ‘prayer and penance’, according to The Boston Globe. Archbishop Josef Wesolowski of Poland was defrocked by the Vatican last month for accusations of sexual abuse in the Dominican Republic, USnews.com reports. Now that Pope Francis talks to sexual abuse victims, there is compelling evidence that massive change geared at preventing further cases will probably happen.
