2 Major Churches, 1 Massive Problem: Pedophile Priests

Archbishop of Canterbury says he deals with sex abuse issues ‘on a daily basis’

From The Independent:

Disgraced vicars convicted of child sex attacks have abused their former Church titles by posing as respected members of society, victims claimed last night, after the Archbishop of Canterbury warned that new cases of abuse by clergy were likely to emerge.

Justin Welby said the Church had to be absolutely transparent, after learning from victims of cover-ups, bungled investigations and the devastating long-term impact of abuse, at a fringe meeting of the Synod of the Church of England.

In an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, the Archbishop said he dealt with issues of child sex abuse on a daily basis and he anticipated that more “bad stories” would emerge. “I would love to say there weren’t, but I expect there are.” He said that it was “becoming clearer and clearer that for many, many years things were not dealt with as they should.

Read the full article at The Independent: Archbishop of Canterbury warns of more revelations

Pope Francis says child abuse is “leprosy” and 2% of clergy are pedophile priests

From The Independent:

Speaking in an interview with La Repubblica, the Pope said his advisers had tried to “reassure” him that paedophilia within the Church was “at the level of two per cent”.

He pledged that he would drive away the “leprosy” of child abuse that was infecting the “house” of Catholicism.

“I find this state of affairs intolerable,” he said.

Pope Francis said his advisers at the Vatican had given him the 2 per cent estimate, which included “priests, bishops and cardinals”.

He also warned of much greater figures for people who were aware of the existence of abuse – sometimes within their own families – but who stayed silent because of corruption or fear.

Read the full article at The Independent: One in 50 priests are paedophiles

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