It is clear, from the immediate reaction to Pope Benedict XVI's pastoral letter of apology to victims of the Irish sex abuse scandal, that people do not believe that he has gone far enough in dealing with the issue which is currently besieging the Catholic Church worldwide.The Pope, Saturday, expressed "shame and remorse" for episodes of child sex abuse, while acknowledging the sense of betrayal in the Church that victims and their families must have felt.
The letter is the first public statement of its kind in decades issued by the Vatican on the sexual abuse of children.
He went on to confirm that "serious mistakes" had been made by Irish bishops in responding to allegations and that priests and religious workers guilty of child abuse "must answer" for their crimes "before properly constituted tribunals."
Pope Benedict while calling for healing, reparation and renewal in the Irish church essentially through more prayer did not call upon Bishops to resign which is a cause for concern in many quarters.
On Sunday Martin Werlen, a member of the Swiss Bishops Conference, called on the Vatican to set up an international register of Roman Catholic clergy who have been reported for sex abuse.
This would in essence be tantamount to naming and shaming offenders and would certainly give potential offenders a reason to pause before committing these acts.
Werlen in an interview with the Sonntagsblick newspaper said that an official Swiss church body that deals with sex abuse has discussed the idea of "a central office in Rome, which would register church people who have been reported.
Such a list, he said, could be consulted by bishops "anywhere in the world" when they make appointments.
The abbot of Einsiedeln monastery in the German-speaking east of Switzerland believes that this would allow the diocese making an appointment the opportunity to check up on individuals regardless of where they are presently stationed in the world.
He further believes that that the Catholic hierarchy has failed to take the impact of the latest child sex abuse scandals in Ireland and elsewhere seriously enough and is putting the church's credibility at risk.
He wants to see priests and religious workers who are guilty of child abuse answer for their crimes before tribunals.
He also believes that the speed of the Vatican's reaction was a kneejerk response comparable to last year's uproar over the lifting of the excommunication of breakaway traditionalist bishops including Holocaust denier Richard Williamson.
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