Euro News Source
No Result
View All Result
Saturday, June 25, 2022
  • Login
  • Home
  • Latest News
    • All Europe
    • United Kingdom
      • England
      • Ireland
      • Scotland
      • Wales
    • France
    • Germany
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • Austria
    • Belgium
    • Netherlands
    • Switzerland
  • Economics
  • Politics
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Videosnew
Subscribe
Euro News Source
  • Home
  • Latest News
    • All Europe
    • United Kingdom
      • England
      • Ireland
      • Scotland
      • Wales
    • France
    • Germany
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • Austria
    • Belgium
    • Netherlands
    • Switzerland
  • Economics
  • Politics
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Videosnew
No Result
View All Result
Euro News Source
No Result
View All Result
Home News Italy

Italy’s Catholic Church faces pressure for independent abuse inquiry

by Francesco Mazzagatti
February 11, 2022
in Italy
A A
0
152
SHARES
1.9k
VIEWS
FacebookTwitterLinkedin

Victims of abuse by Roman Catholic priests at a school for the deaf in Argentina, their advocates and lawyers, pose to demand that the Vatican order Argentine Catholic Church officials to hand over documents concerning the school before another trail later this year at the Vatican, February 21, 2020. REUTERS/Philip Pullella/File Photo

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

  • Bishops divided over internal or external investigation
  • Victims’ groups form consortium, seek government inquiry
  • Bishops due to take final decision in May

ROME, Feb 11 (Reuters) – At a trial under way in Sicily, a 28-year-old Italian is seeking justice against a man he accuses of forcing him to perform sex acts before going on to become a priest.

The victim says the alleged abuse, committed more than a decade ago when he was a minor and the accused was a seminarian leading youth groups, included forced masturbation and oral sex in sacristies and schoolrooms. The accused denies the charges.

The victim went to the police only after the Church failed to act on his accusations, which he spelled out to two priests and at a meeting with a bishop involving his parents.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Victims’ groups say there are thousands of similar cases hidden in Church archives, and they are increasing pressure for an independent investigation in Italy to mirror recent moves in France and Germany.

Nine Italian groups have formed a consortium and on Tuesday will announce a campaign called “Beyond the Great Silence” and unveil a hashtag #ItalyChurchToo.

It aims to put public pressure on the Italian government to investigate past and present abuse in the Church or for the Church to commission an impartial investigation by outsiders.

The campaign is the latest move worldwide to force the Catholic Church to establish the full extent of sexual abuse by clergy that has cost it millions of dollars in compensation to victims.

“The state and the government have to take the initiative on this,” Francesco Zanardi, the head of one of the groups, Rete l’Abuso (The Abuse Network), which tracks clerical abuse in Italy, told Reuters.

“If the Church investigates itself, its first objective will be to protect itself,” said Zanardi, who is a victim of clergy sexual abuse.

‘POWDER KEG’

The campaigners did not say how many sexual abuse crimes they suspect have been committed in Italy, but Rete l’Abuso has documented hundreds of such cases, most of them current or recent.

The German study, released in 2018, showed 1,670 clergymen abused 3,677 minors from 1946 to 2014. The French investigation released last year and covering seven decades, said more than 200,000 children were abused in Catholic institutions.

Pope Francis has expressed shame at the Church’s inability to deal with sexual abuse cases and said the Church must make itself a “safe home for everyone”. Former Pope Benedict has acknowledged that errors occurred in handling sexual abuse cases when he was Archbishop of Munich and asked for forgiveness.

The results of an independent investigation going back decades could be devastating in Italy, where about 74% of the population are Catholic.

“The Church does not want this because it would be a powder keg,” Zanardi said.

Bishops in Italy are divided over what type of investigation should be done.

Some say the Church has the resources, such as diocesan anti-abuse committees, to do the work itself.

Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, who favours an internal investigation, explained his position in a newspaper interview. Paola Lazzarini, head of Women in the Church, which is part of the consortium, told Reuters that Bassetti’s position “does not satisfy us one bit”.

Other bishops, including Erio Castellucci of Modena and Paolo Lojudice of Siena, have signalled support for commissioning an outside investigation.

Victims groups and some abuse experts within the Church have warned that an inside investigation will not be convincing.

“We can have the best intentions but as long as we do it in-house nobody is going to believe us,” Father Hans Zollner, who heads the department of safeguarding and prevention of sexual abuse at Rome’s Gregorian University, told Reuters.

A decision is due to be taken in May at a plenary to elect the new president of the Italian Bishops Conference because any investigation will be done during his five-year mandate.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Reporting by Philip Pullella, Editing by Timothey Heritage

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source: Reuters

Tags: CEEUCHLDCHRICLJCRIMDEEUROPEZCFRGENHLBHLSITMTPIXMTVIDRELSCRIMSOCIVAWEU

Related Posts

Italy

Five countries seek to delay EU fossil fuel car phase-out

June 24, 2022
Italy

Eni postpones IPO of energy transition unit due to market conditions

June 23, 2022
Italy

Apple and Android phones hacked by Italian spyware, Google says

June 23, 2022
Italy

Dire Italian drought worsening, breaking records – water authority

June 23, 2022
Italy

Italy’s Monte dei Paschi seeks 2.5 billion euros for latest relaunch plan

June 23, 2022
Italy

Italy’s De Nora family to hold controlling stake in group after IPO

June 23, 2022
Please login to join discussion
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

Woman livestreams fatal stabbing of half-sister

October 25, 2021

Prison sentences for protestors who pray outside abortion clinics in Spain

February 4, 2022

Investigation opened into porn video recorded on altar of Flemish church

November 3, 2021

Irish couple, 23 and 26, ‘carry out vicious knife attack in Sydney’

October 14, 2021
Freedom Day

Freedom Day

0
Fire Accident

Fire Accident In Iraq

0
Scotland

Advice from the Scotland Prime Minister

0
Brexiteers

Brexiteers Should Thank The EU

0

Kalush Orchestra execute initially Uk gig at Glastonbury Pageant – with established written in just days 

June 25, 2022

‘I maybe really do not feel it, but…’ – Bradley Wiggins on Chris Froome’s pursuit of fifth Tour de France title

June 25, 2022

Meet Ryan Peniston: Essex boy, cancer survivor, and now Wimbledon wildcard at 26

June 25, 2022

‘I do not do it for the wins’ – Annemiek Van Vleuten on her lifelong journey to the Tour de France Femmes

June 25, 2022

Recent Posts

‘I maybe really do not feel it, but…’ – Bradley Wiggins on Chris Froome’s pursuit of fifth Tour de France title

June 25, 2022

Meet Ryan Peniston: Essex boy, cancer survivor, and now Wimbledon wildcard at 26

June 25, 2022

‘I do not do it for the wins’ – Annemiek Van Vleuten on her lifelong journey to the Tour de France Femmes

June 25, 2022

Rail strikes: Third working day of industrial action established to lead to weekend chaos – with no trains operating in some well-liked seaside towns

June 25, 2022

‘He understands what’s best’ – Ajax supervisor assured Jurrien Timber won’t be part of Manchester United

June 25, 2022

Glastonbury lovers and organizations which rely on festivals are viewing the effects of the value of living crisis

June 25, 2022

Recent Posts

  • Kalush Orchestra execute initially Uk gig at Glastonbury Pageant – with established written in just days 
  • ‘I maybe really do not feel it, but…’ – Bradley Wiggins on Chris Froome’s pursuit of fifth Tour de France title
  • Meet Ryan Peniston: Essex boy, cancer survivor, and now Wimbledon wildcard at 26
  • ‘I do not do it for the wins’ – Annemiek Van Vleuten on her lifelong journey to the Tour de France Femmes
  • Rail strikes: Third working day of industrial action established to lead to weekend chaos – with no trains operating in some well-liked seaside towns

Categories

  • Austria
  • Bahamas
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Breaking News
  • Brexiteers
  • Business
  • China
  • COVID Cases
  • Covid-19
  • Cyber security
  • Debt
  • Economics
  • Energy
  • England
  • Fashion
  • Fire Accident
  • France
  • Freedom Day
  • Germany
  • Health
  • Human Launch
  • Humanitarian
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • News
  • Norway
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Refugees
  • Russia
  • Russia
  • Rwanda
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Science
  • Scotland
  • Scotland
  • Spain
  • Spanish-Flu
  • Sports
  • Switzerland
  • Travel
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom
  • Videos
  • Wales
  • Zambia

Site Navigation

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Guest Post
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact Us
Euro News Source

Euro News Source is one of the best sources of European News. We provide the latest news from the European Union and its member states, local and international political, economic and sports news. Follow us to receive all news from around the European Union.

© 2021 Euro News Source.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Latest News
    • All Europe
    • United Kingdom
      • England
      • Ireland
      • Scotland
      • Wales
    • France
    • Germany
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • Austria
    • Belgium
    • Netherlands
    • Switzerland
  • Economics
  • Politics
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Videos

© 2021 Euro News Source.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?