Vatican asked to show compassion to clergy sex abuse victims

Published: 2005-05-23

NEW YORK (CNS) -- The Vatican needs to engage in "acts and words of compassion" to clergy sex abuse victims, said the former head of the U.S. bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection. "The victims and their families are deserving of overdue apologies from the highest levels of the church," wrote Kathleen McChesney in the May 30 issue of America, a New York-based national Catholic weekly magazine of news and commentary run by the U.S. Jesuits. The sex abuse crisis also calls the church to "serious thought" about optional celibacy for Latin-rite priests, she said, noting that sex abuse accusations have been made against clergy in many countries. McChesney said that the election of a new pope is a good opportunity for the church to assess what still needs to be done in preventing child sex abuse. "The crisis is not over," she said, mentioning the more than 1,000 new allegations of clergy sex abuse of minors made in 2004. "(Pope) Benedict XVI now has a unique opportunity to heal the wounds of victims and prevent such a tragedy from recurring," she said.

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