Vatican spokesman discusses abuse, financial scandals
February 06, 2012
It is imperative “to show a firm determination to continue to give a coherent witness to moral values” in the face of the sexual abuse and financial scandals that have affected the Church, the director of the Holy See Press Office said in his weekly editorial.
“The actions taken by the Pope, and the commitments developed in various local churches that have been harshly tried by the scandal, have set in motion a series of initiatives: to listen to and help the victims of abuse, to examine the causes of abuse; and to raise awareness of, and work to prevent sexual abuse of children,” said Father Federico Lombardi, SJ. “By promoting these initiatives, it can be confidently said that we are heading in the right direction … The Church intends to render justice to those harmed by abuse; to be itself renewed; and to be able to help a society and a world where sexual abuse is rampant, to effectively fight this scourge.”
Referring to financial scandals, he added that “on several occasions the Vatican’s financial institutions, in particular the Institute for Works of Religion, have been accused unjustly: recently in the United States, a legal case against the Institute for Works of Religion--the third in three years--was dismissed due to its total groundlessness. And now, a series of new regulations will guarantee that activities carried out in the service of the Church are completely safe and transparent.”
“The road is a long and difficult one but the way is clear and the will to do what is right is assured. And the Church’s witness to the Gospel will greatly benefit from it.”
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