Child abuse in the Roman Catholic church was allowed to continue as files documenting child sexual abuse were destroyed, a conference was told in February.
Cardinal Reinhard Marx said that procedures to prosecute offenders were ‘deliberately not complied with’. The unprecedented four-day summit brought together 190 bishops from across the world.
Growing pressure
The Catholic Church has faced growing pressure amid long-running cases of sexual abuse of children and young men, with victims accusing it of failing to tackle the issue.
Cardinal Marx urged greater transparency in the Catholic Church’s response to the issue, adding: ‘It is not transparency which damages the Church but rather the acts of abuse committed, the lack of transparency or the ensuing cover-up.’
Cardinal Marx – who is one of nine advisers to the Pope, known as the C9 – met survivors of abuse and members of the global organisation Ending Clergy Abuse. Hundreds of victims have protested outside the Vatican, calling for justice and zero tolerance over the issue.
The conference was called for by Pope Francis, who admitted that abuse of nuns by members of the clergy had included sexual abuse.
