Friday, June 01, 2007

Vatican Slow On Clergy Complaints

The Vatican has received 1,000 paedophilia complaints against clergy since 2001 but only 10 cases have been taken up by the Church tribunal for serious offences, a weekly magazine said.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican are regularly accused of moving paedophile priests from parish to parish rather than hand them over to the law or imposing Church sanctions.

The Panorama magazine, which is owned by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, said that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which receives the complaints, was headed by cardinal Joseph Ratzinger for 24 years before he became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.

"Trials launched these past six years have numbered barely more than 10. And they are veiled by the utmost secrecy because even the verdicts are never made known," Panorama said.

A BBC documentary "Sex, crimes and the Vatican" about paedophile priests was shown on Italy’s RAI network.

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