Pope Francis Says Church Was Slow to Respond to Sex Abuse
Remarks to advisory panel don’t address case of priest recalled from U.S. under suspicion of child pornography law violations
Pope Francis meets members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, at the Vatican Thursday. PHOTO: L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO/ASSOCIATED PRESS
VATICAN CITY— Pope Francis criticized the Catholic Church’s record on child sex abuse and its history of protecting abuser priests, even as the Vatican faced scrutiny over its handling of a priest suspected of violating U.S. laws against child pornography.
In remarks to his advisory panel on child protection Thursday, the pope said the church woke up to “these crimes in a delayed manner.”
“Maybe the old practice of moving people around, of not facing the problem, put our consciousness asleep,” he added.
The pope did not address the case of an Italian priest whom the Vatican recalled after the U.S. State Department notified it on Aug. 21 about a “possible violation of laws relating to child pornography images.”
The Vatican’s statement last Friday announcing the recall didn’t name the priest, identifying him only as a Holy See diplomat accredited to Washington. But a person familiar with the situation said he is Msgr. Carlo Alberto Capella, a longtime diplomat.
An attempt to reach Msgr. Capella through the Vatican wasn’t successful.
The case has raised concerns among U.S. bishops that it could undermine a decade and a half of efforts to regain public trust on clerical sex abuse.
The Vatican statement said the priest was in Vatican City and under investigation by the Vatican prosecutor, who had “already commenced international collaboration to obtain elements relative to the case.”
According to a person familiar with the matter, Msgr. Capella has submitted to house arrest and has surrendered all his electronic devices to Vatican officials who will examine them for evidence.
Shortly after the Vatican announcement, the head of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy openly pressed the Vatican to handle the matter with transparency and rigor. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement Friday that Msgr. Capella’s recall and investigation were a “serious issue,” and urged the Holy See to be “forthcoming with more details.”
The cardinal cited the U.S. bishops’ procedures for dealing with sex abuse allegations—adopted in 2002 amid a nationwide scandal over clerical sex abuse of children—and said that, as in all such cases, an “immediate, thorough, and transparent investigation should begin in cooperation with law enforcement.”
The U.S. bishops’ leadership was frustrated by the Vatican’s failure to consult them before recalling Msgr. Capella, according to a person familiar with their thinking. Depending on the strength of evidence, the bishops might have supported waiving his diplomatic immunity, allowing him to be investigated and tried in the U.S., the person said.
The U.S. State Department did not provide the Vatican with any evidence against Msgr. Capella prior to his leaving the country, according to people familiar with the matter. A State Department official didn’t comment on the evidence question, but outlined procedures for charging diplomats and said the Vatican didn’t waive immunity.
The U.S. bishops hope the Vatican deals with the case more quickly and transparently than it did that of Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, Holy See envoy to the Dominican Republic, who was recalled in August 2013 following reports that he had sexually abused boys in the Caribbean country. After being defrocked, the former archbishop was still awaiting a criminal trial in the Vatican when he died of a heart attack in August 2015.
Pope Francis has spoken strongly against sex abuse by priests—likening the practice to a “black Mass”—but his pontificate has been marked by criticism, even from his own advisers, of the Vatican’s performance.
One of the two abuse survivors on the child protection commission, which Pope Francis established in 2014, was forced to take a leave of absence last year after criticizing the pope’s record on clerical sex abuse. The other survivor on the panel resigned in March, complaining that Vatican officials—though not the pope himself—were hindering the body’s work.
On Thursday, the pope told the commission that he regretted extending leniency to one Italian priest who was later convicted by a civil court. “That was the only time I did it, never again,” the pope said. “I learned my lesson.”
The highest Vatican official to be criminally charged with sex abuse is Australian Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis ’ finance chief, who was charged in June on multiple counts by prosecutors in his native country. He has taken a leave of absence from the Vatican and returned to Australia to face the charges.
Msgr. Capella, a priest from the diocese of Milan, has been an official at the Holy See’s mission to the U.S. since last year. He earlier served in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State with special responsibility for dealings with Italy.
Write to Francis X. Rocca at francis.rocca@wsj.com
Appeared in the September 22, 2017, print edition as 'Church Response to Abuse Was Slow, Pope Says.'
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and slow to condemn the bigotry of Andrew wanna bee president cuomo who puts his religious preference over that of muslims, infidels, bettors, murderers and others who brlieve in ny const art 1 sec 3
the greek curch and bartholomew also remain silents as cuomo usurps the msntle of calendar boy
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Home > LI Confidential > Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
Edit (in 5 minutes)
“Maybe the old practice of moving people around, of not facing the problem, put our consciousness asleep,” he added."
Respectfully, Sir, you retired the trophy with that one.
Also, Sir, have you any update on the abuse reports at Smyllum Park orphanage in Lanark, Scotland?
What about abuse in general, not just sexual? Orphanages with sadistic nuns? This is a fact. Many of my friends who attended Catholic schools in the 60's and 7O's have plenty of stories to share about student abuse, both physical and emotional.
They are about 100 years late and if weren't for the media they would still not address it . I still have not read anywhere that the Pope has called this criminal behavior . It's not a lapse in faith or a mental health issue....it's a crime .
