The Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandals continue to widen.
Yesterday's NYT reports:
"As hundreds of new allegations of sexual abuse surface in the German church alone, a top Vatican official acknowledged Tuesday that, with only 10 people handling such cases, his office might not be adequate for the task. But the official, Msgr. Charles J. Scicluna, who is effectively the Vatican's internal prosecutor, said the church was working to bring more 'transparency' to the delicate and emotional process of settling allegations of abuse by priests that have severely damaged the church's moral standing….Over the weekend, Monsignor Scicluna told L'Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian Bishops Conference, that his office had examined 3,000 abuse cases in the past decade, most of them from the United States.
The ratio of 10 people handling 300 cases a year did not go over well in some quarters. 'It seems like an extraordinarily paltry effort, given the scope of the crisis,' said David Clohessy, the national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests…In a rare interview, by telephone on Tuesday, Monsignor Scicluna acknowledged the concern. Asked if he wanted reinforcements, he said with a laugh: 'I would hope we have less work. That's my hope. Not more people, less work.'
He added that if the number of cases averaged 300 a year, 'We can continue doing our job well with 10 people. The problem is: Are these numbers going to settle?'"
It doesn't end below the equator either:
"Brazilian authorities are investigating three priests accused of sexually abusing altar boys after a video allegedly showing one case of abuse was broadcast on television, police and church officials said Tuesday.
The case came to light after the SBT network aired a video purportedly showing an 82-year-old priest having sex with a 19-year-old altar boy who worked for him for four years. Other young men appeared on the report saying that they, too, had been abused by Monsignor Luiz Marques Barbosa.
Also under investigation are Monsignor Raimundo Gomes, 52, and Father Edilson Duarte, 43, for allegedly having sexual relations with boys and young men."
Late last week there were reports about Pope Benedict being pulled further into this scandal.
The Catholic League's Bill Donohue is very angry at the New York Times for reporting on all this.
And the Catholic Church is worried about allowing gays to adopt children and give them a loving home. Perhaps they should be more concerned about what's happening to children in the Catholic Church.
