ITALY: The Vatican's new top official for cases of sexual abuse acknowledges the U.S. media "did a service" for the Catholic Church by aggressivly exposing cases of child abuse by clergy

Record ID: 334664

  • Title: ITALY: The Vatican's new top official for cases of sexual abuse acknowledges the U.S. media "did a service" for the Catholic Church by aggressivly exposing cases of child abuse by clergy
  • Date: 5th February 2013
  • Summary: ROME, ITALY (FEBRUARY 5, 2013) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE MONSIGNOR ROBERT OLIVER, VATICAN'S PROMOTER OF JUSTICE FOR THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, SPEAKING TO REPORTERS AHEAD OF NEWS CONFERENCE STAND WITH COPIES OF BOOKS ENTITLED: "Towards Healing and Renewal" (SOUNDBITE) (English) VATICAN'S PROMOTOR OF JUSTICE MONSIGNOR ROBERT OLIVER SAYING: "Every single one of us begins with denial. I think it is one of the great things about the work that is being done here, that we all come to know that in order to prevent this from happening, we all need to come to better understanding. I think the leaders of the church, the members of the church, we are no different from anyone else, in the beginning our reaction was "no this is not possible". People don't do this to children. To come to a realisation and then a realisation of what is a proper way to respond, is, its a pathway. And so I think that certainly those who continued to put before us that we need to confront this problem, did a service. They helped to keep the energy, if you will, to keep the movement going so that we would, honestly and with transparency, and with our strength confront what is true." NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) VATICAN'S PROMOTOR OF JUSTICE MONSIGNOR ROBERT OLIVER SAYING: "Now I think in many countries there is a realisation, that had not happened as early as in other countries. So you can see that it is still going forward in the world. How that happens in each culture is another thing that is well studied, each country has a different way in confronting these issues and problems and it is certainly our hope to be of service to the churches around the world as they do come to confront this problem and to respond in the power of Grace, and to do what we can to protect our children." NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 20th February 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Crime,Religion,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAB7II7G5RKM0DUWO56XUF8NYY9
  • Story Text: The Vatican's new top official for cases of sexual abuse cases on Tuesday (February 5) acknowledged that the U.S. media "did a service" to the Catholic Church by aggressivly exposing cases of abuse of children by priests.
    Father Robert Oliver, an American from the diocese of Boston, made the statement in answer to a question at his first public appearance since taking on his new post.
    "Every single one of us begins with denial" Oliver said at a news conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
    "I think the leaders of the church, the members of the church, we are no different from anyone else, in the beginning our reaction was "no this is not possible". People don't do this to children" Oliver said.
    "I think that certainly those who continued to put before us that we need to confront this problem, did a service" he said in response to a question on whether the role of an aggressive American media was a blessing for the Church.
    "They helped to keep the energy, if you will, to keep the movement going so that we would, honestly and with transparency, and with our strength confront what is true," he said at a news conference.
    Often during the past decade since the abuse scandal erupted in Boston and spread around the world, some Church officials accused the media of irresponsible journalism and exaggeration.
    Oliver said the fight to eradicate the abuse was still a work in progress.
    "Now I think in many countries there is a realisation, that had not happened as early as in other countries. So you can see that it is still going forward in the world" he said.
    "How that happens in each culture is another thing that is well studied, each country has a different way in confronting these issues and problems and it is certainly our hope to be of service to the churches around the world as they do come to confront this problem and to respond in the power of Grace, and to do what we can to protect our children" Oliver said.
    Oliver spoke at the presentation of the proceedings of a major conference a year ago in Rome called "Towards Healing and Renewal," on the Church's attempts to become more aware of the problem, make a universal commitment to listen to victims and prevent future cases of abuse.
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