Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Tipped to be Next Pope, Forced to Admit He Failed to Address Sex Abuse Case on Eve of Summit: Reports
Indian cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Mumbai, also opened the second day of the summit in Rome addressing the issue of accountability in the church.
Mumbai, February 23: Even as Pope Francis opened the four-day conference on Thursday to address the issue of sex abuse in the Catholic clergy, amid a lot of talk and expectation, one of the church’s most senior figures, Indian cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Mumbai, is being accused of being silent on a sex abuse case that was brought to his notice years ago. Kiss Of Peace: Pope Francis, Grand Imam of Egypt Kiss In UAE, Call For World Peace; See Pic.
Indian cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Mumbai, also opened the second day of the summit in Rome addressing the issue of accountability in the church.
However, the Cardinal Gracias was demanded to accept that he failed to call the police when in 2015, parents of a boy told him about their son raped by a parish priest.
A BBC investigation also said that the cardinal left for Rome without alerting the authorities about the matter. He instructed his bishop to discuss the matter but was told that the family had gone to the police themselves within this time.
Earlier, on February 21, Pope Francis opened a landmark sex abuse prevention summit Thursday by offering senior Catholic leaders 21 proposals to punish predators and keep children safe, warning that the faithful are demanding concrete action and not just words.
The tone for the high stakes, four-day summit was set at the start, with victims from five continents — Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and North America — telling the bishops of the trauma of their abuse and the additional pain the church's indifference caused them.
"Listen to the cry of the young, who want justice," Francis told the gathering of 190 leaders of bishops conferences and religious orders.
"The holy people of God are watching and expect not just simple and obvious condemnations, but efficient and concrete measures to be established."
More than 30 years after the scandal first erupted in Ireland and Australia, and 20 years after it hit the US, bishops and Catholic officials in many parts of Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia still either deny that clergy sex abuse exists in their regions or play down the problem.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 23, 2019 04:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).