UNITED KINGDOM: Victims claiming abuse within the Catholic church appeal to the Pope to do more to bring offenders to justice ahead of his visit of the UK

Record ID: 334608

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Victims claiming abuse within the Catholic church appeal to the Pope to do more to bring offenders to justice ahead of his visit of the UK
  • Date: 16th September 2010
  • Summary: EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 15, 2010) (REUTERS) ST MARY'S CATHEDRAL, EDINBURGH FOUNDER OF SURVIVORS NETWORK OF THOSE ABUSED BY PRIESTS (SNAP), BARBARA BLAINE STANDING OUTSIDE ST MARY'S CHURCH WITH PHOTOGRAPHERS, PANS TO PHOTOS OF ABUSE VICTIMS WHEN THEY WERE CHILDREN BLAINE HOLDING UP PHOTOGRAPH OF HERSELF AS A CHILD SNAP MEMBER AND ALLEGED SEX ABUSE VICTIM, TERESA ALBRECHT STANDING HOLDING A PHOTOGRAPH OF HERSELF WITH WRITING READING: "RAPE AT AGE 8" (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) SURVIVORS NETWORK OF THOSE ABUSED BY PRIESTS (SNAP) FOUNDER, BARBARA BLAINE SAYING: "Two small things he could do that would help to protect children are: to discipline the cardinal from Belgium who was just earlier this year encouraging and participating in a coverup of sex crimes by a fellow bishop. The other thing is we want to Pope to set up a database with the names of all the credibly accused predators. So that the victims can know they are not alone." BLAINE AND ALBRECHT TALKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SNAP MEMBER AND ALLEGED SEX ABUSE VICTIM, TERESE ALBRECHT SAYING: "It does walk with me for the rest of my life. The difference between how I am today and how I was a few years ago before I spoke out is night and day. I was suicidally depressed, ready to kill myself, hospitalized in several psychiatric hospitals. I just wanted to die and was blaming myself. I just turned all the pain inward and then I got healthier and stronger. I started seeing a therapist and realised it wasn't my fault." MORE OF PHOTOGRAPHS VARIOUS OF WOMAN HANDING OUT SNAP LEAFLETS
  • Embargoed: 1st October 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA2OAC4H5WGEHFHLS2REBG4YEGR
  • Story Text: Five people who say they were abused by Catholic priests on Wednesday (September 15) renewed their calls for the Pope to hand over all information on the scandal, ahead of his visit to the UK.
    They demanded that Pope Benedict XVI "make amends" for their suffering by going further than offering an apology.
    Peter Saunders, survivor and chief executive of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, said: "The main reason we're here is that we call on the Pope to hand over all the details he has, that the Vatican has, of abusing pedophile priests, wherever they are in the world because that man has the power. Don't be fooled. That man is an absolute monarch. What he says in Rome goes in Adelaide, in Lima, in Los Angeles, in London. The Pope is the boss, he has the capacity to do these things."
    Others sharing their stories included Sue Cox, 63, from Gaydon, Warwickshire, who described herself as a "recovered Catholic".
    She told of abuse at the hands of a priest in her family home. "He was fat and smelly and he stank of stale sweat, and whisky and incense. And I was asthmatic, I was breathing, I was gasping for breath, I was bleeding, I was crying, my nightie was torn from top to bottom, and he was laughing."
    Ms Cox said she had no desire to meet with the Pope, even if the opportunity were available. "Do I think that the Pope should should meet abuse victims? Well no I do not," she said. "Why the hell would we be wheeled out in order to comply with this publicity campaign? Why on earth would abuse victims want to be part of this PR stunt. I've no desire to meet him, either in private or in public, unless he's got something to say."
    Margaret Kennedy, 57, from Dublin, attended the news conference with a book detailing the testimony and stories of abuse victims. She said she hoped to be able to give the book to the Pope.
    "Devastated would be the word if I'm not able to give it on behalf of the survivors in our group. I would be devastated because they have sweated blood, sweat and tears over and it's my duty to get it to the Pope and if he doesn't allow me to represent survivors of abuse then I think it's a joke."
    Scottish victim Chris Daly said the Catholic church had no interest in addressing the group's concerns.
    "We survivors are seen as enemies of the church. We're not. We want the church, or certainly from me, I want the church, I want the Pope to say, 'I understand your suffering.'"
    Australian victim Mark Fabbro travelled to the UK for the Pope's visit. With him he has brought his baptism certificate which he wishes to have annulled.
    The Pope arrives in Edinburgh on Thursday at the start of a four-day trip taking in Glasgow, London and Birmingham.
    In the Scottish capital Edinburgh Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) called for Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels to be disciplined for his suggestion to an abuse victim to stay silent until the bishop involved had resigned.
    A small group of SNAP members gathered outside St Mary's Church holding pictures and handing out leaflets to passers by ahead of the historic Papal visit to the Scottish city. Each a victim of priest sexual abuse, they laid out photographs of children they said had been molested by priests.
    SNAP founder, Barbara Blaine, who says she had been sexually abused as a child, explained the action she wanted the Pope to take. "Two small things he could do that would help to protect children are: to discipline the cardinal from Belgium who was just earlier this year encouraging and participating in a coverup of sex crimes by a fellow bishop. The other thing is we want to pope to set up a database with the names of all the credibly accused predators. So that the victims can know they are not alone."
    The former head of Belgium's Catholic Church, Danneels suggested to a sexual abuse victim it would be better to delay a public statement on the case until the bishop involved resigned in 2011.
    Church spokesman, Jurgen Mettepenningen, speaking in August 2010, confirmed transcripts in Belgium's De Standaard newspaper of a meeting Roman Catholic Cardinal Godfried Danneels held with Bishop Roger Vangheluwe and a sexual abuse victim of the bishop in April 2010.
    Danneels's spokesman Toon Osaer told Reuters the cardinal had not covered up anything and had openly spoken about the April 2010 meeting following Vangheluwe's resignation two weeks after the conversation took place.
    Terese Albrecht, who says she was sexually abused by a priest inside a church when she was eight, talked about her life after the abuse.
    "The difference between how I am today and how I was a few years ago before I spoke out is night and day. I was suicidally depressed, ready to kill myself, hospitalized in several psychiatric hospitals. I just wanted to die and was blaming myself. I just turned all the pain inward and then I got healthier and stronger. I started seeing a therapist and realised it wasn't my fault," she said.
    The Pope is scheduled to meet the Queen and Prime Minister David Cameron during his visit.
    Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend several scheduled public events, culminating in a beatification ceremony for Cardinal John Henry Newman on Sunday.
    Pope Benedict XVI, who is 83, was elected head of the Catholic Church in 2005.
    The visit to Britain has been criticised by a number of groups, including gay rights organisations and Catholic child abuse victims, and demonstrations are expected.
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