The
Washington Post this week reviewed the record of Pope Francis in dealing with sex abuse by priests when he served as Archbishop of Buenos Aires. It focuses particularly on issues raised by the case of Father Julio Cesar Grassi. The Post reports:
during most of the 14 years that Bergoglio served as archbishop of Buenos Aires, rights advocates say, he did not take decisive action to protect children or act swiftly when molestation charges surfaced; nor did he extend apologies to the victims of abusive priests after their misconduct came to light.
It adds however:
There is no evidence that Bergoglio played a role in covering up abuse cases. Several prominent rights groups in Argentina say the archbishop went out of his way in recent years to stand with secular organizations against crimes such as sex trafficking and child prostitution. They say that Bergoglio’s resolve strengthened as new cases of molestation emerged in the archdiocese and that he eventually instructed bishops to immediately report all abuse allegations to police.
Meanwhile, the
National Catholic Reporter yesterday said that the Pope supports zero tolerance of child abuse, citing an interview with him last year.
