A recent report by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops tallied 14,000 molestation claims against Catholic clergy since 1950. The church’s abuse-related costs during this period totaled more than $2.3 billion. Although Pope Benedict XVI declared—while flying into Washington April 15 for his first official visit to the United States—his deep shame of pedophiles among Catholic clergy, many abuse victims are not satisfied.
Three months ago, the leaders of Survivors Network of those Abused By Priests (SNAP) sent Pope Benedict a letter (via Pietro Sambi, the Holy See’s ambassador to Washington) requesting a meeting during his six-day visit to Washington and New York. The letter (below) began, “As children, each of us was raped or sexually assaulted by a priest.” SNAP seeks face-to-face assurance that the Vatican “will never again tolerate sexual violence from within the ranks of the ordained.” Despite church efforts to address disclosures of sexual abuse, the group faults “bishops and provincials in the United States” for continuing failures. SNAP represents “over 8,000 survivors in over 60 chapters.”
SNAP received no response to its letter, and as a result its grievances with the pope became more personal. On April 8, SNAP issued a press release criticizing the Holy Father (“formerly known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger“) for his own record on clergy sexual abuse. Among SNAP’s accusations is that, as cardinal, he was slow to see the scandal as anything other than a plot to discredit the church, and as pope he has failed to discipline U.S. bishops who have failed to enforce a sexual-abuse policy agreed to in 2002. SNAP also repeated speculation from some Catholic commentators that during his current trip the pope is not visiting Boston, “the epicenter of the ongoing clergy sex scandals,” because he doesn’t want the issue to dominate news coverage. Although the 81-year-old pontiff has been met with throngs of admirers during his visit, the abuse record has nonetheless shadowed him. On Wednesday, while Pope Benedict scolded a group of American bishops at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, saying they had “badly handled” the scandal, angry victims carrying baby pictures and placards demonstrated a few blocks away.
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