Wearing the dress she wore to her first communion and hands held together as if in prayer, the eight-year-old Therese Albrecht looks like a poster child for the Catholic Church. The caption, which she added as an adult after years of depression, suicidal thoughts and psychiatric treatment, tells a different story: "Raped at age eight."
It is a striking image which Albrecht hopes will have made an impact on Pope Benedict XVI as he waved to thousands of well-wishers who lined the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland , on Thursday during the first papal state visit to the U.K. in nearly 500 years.
Albrecht traveled more than 3,700 miles from her home in Chicago with three other Americans — who all say they were abused by priests — to hold a silent demonstration. They allowed the childhood photographs of themselves and other victims to make their case.
Speaking from the Scottish capital's Princes Street as they waited for the pope to pass by, Albrecht told msnbc.com that she was sexually abused by a priest from the age of eight to 11 and also by a nun.
"I hope he takes notice of all the posters of all these innocent children in the prime of their youth ... basically their soul was murdered," she said. "Some of the posters of the children ... they committed suicide as adults. As someone who was suicidal herself, that touches me deeply."
While Benedict has apologized several times and acknowledged Thursday that the church had failed to act decisively to deal with pedophile priests, campaigners are urging him to take stronger steps.
Barbara Dorris, outreach director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) victims' group, told msnbc.com that they wanted to see a publicly accessible, worldwide register of priests who were "credibly accused predators," so parents could find out if their children were at risk.
They also want the pope to hand over internal church documents about sex-abuse accusations to local police for investigation and bishops who were complicit in the "cover-up" of sexual abuse to be disciplined.
"I'm here today because I feel children are still being abused by the clergy," Dorris said. "I think I'm disappointed in him [the pope]. He is the spiritual leader of one of the world's largest religions, the safety of children should be, as the kids say, a 'no-brainer.'"
She said she felt "sad and frustrated" by the pope's response to the recent upsurge in accusations and evidence of abuse, saying despite his apologies and "lofty promises," he had actually done "nothing."
SIC: MSNBC/UK