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Swiss abbot calls for Rome-based registry of priests who abused children

CWN - March 22, 2010

A Swiss abbot has proposed that the Vatican establish an international registry of priests who have committed abuse so that dioceses and religious orders could determine whether to accept a priest who had previously worked elsewhere.

“I'm afraid that the Church leadership in Rome is not taking the situation seriously enough,” added Abbot Martin Werlen of Einsiedeln.

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  • Posted by: - Mar. 22, 2010 6:18 PM ET USA

    Now that sounds like an excellent idea! If there is a database, kept up by the Vatican, covering world-wide, viewable by everyone, then the media wouldn't publish exaggerated stories on these matters. Yes, the problem is bad, but the media is having a field-day, in some cases unjustified by sensatializing these stories. I am a devout Catholic and I do have compassion, but not for priests who abuse children, etc. - Anyone abusing kids should be arrested & punished according to local courts!

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