A general view of Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican
REUTERS
The sex and power scandals haunting the Catholic Church look set to
play a big role in meetings before next month's papal election after two
senior cardinals called on Tuesday for more internal debate about them.
A leading support group for victims of clerical sexual abuse also made
what it called a "last-ditch plea" to Pope Benedict to use his authority
before resigning on Thursday to discipline bishops who have protected
predatory priests in their dioceses.
The abuse issue took on new urgency after Scotland's Cardinal Keith
O'Brien, accused of improper behavior with young priests, quit as
Edinburgh archbishop on Monday and pulled out of the Sistine Chapel
conclave to elect a new pope, reports Reuters.
A Scottish Catholic Media Office spokesman has said O'Brien was taking
legal advice and contested the "anonymous and non specific" allegations
against him.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, now the only British prelate due to
attend pre-conclave talks among cardinals at the Vatican next week, said
in London the sexual abuse of children was the most serious scandal in
the Church.
"That will be one of the main things the cardinals will be discussing,"
said Murphy-O'Connor, who cannot vote because he is over 80 years old
but can join the cardinal electors in their closed-door discussions
about the challenges for the next pope.
French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran said in a newspaper interview that
the cardinal electors, who number 115 after O'Brien stepped down, should
also be informed about a secret report on Vatican corruption prepared
for Pope Benedict.
The retiring pontiff has decided to reserve the report for his
successor, but the three cardinals over 80 years old who drew it up will
be allowed to inform the cardinal electors about some of its findings
during next week's consultations.
"The cardinal electors cannot decide to choose this or that name to
vote for if they don't know the contents of this dossier," Tauran told
La Repubblica newspaper.
"If it's necessary, I don't see why they should not ask for names,"
said Tauran, a former Vatican foreign minister who now heads its
department for interreligious dialogue.
Italian newspapers have been speculating for days about conspiracies
and alleged sexual scandals inside the Vatican that may have influenced
Benedict to become the first pope in some six centuries to step down
rather than die in office.
The Vatican has accused these newspapers of spreading "false and
damaging" rumours in an attempt to influence the cardinals who are
starting to arrive in Rome for the pope's farewell meeting with them on
Thursday.
Two directors of the United States-based abuse victims' network SNAP
arrived in Rome on Tuesday to draw attention to their demands for
tougher Church policies.
"We're here to make a last ditch plea to Pope Benedict to use the
remaining hours of his papacy to take decisive action to protect kids,"
said David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those
Abused by Priests.
He acknowledged that Benedict had met some abuse victims and made some
strong statements condemning the molestation of minors by priests, but
said he only acted under public pressure.
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