Victims march to Rome to demand 'zero tolerance' on church abuse

Following a six-day journey to Rome while carrying a big wooden cross, a group of abuse survivors from the Catholic Church and those who support them called on Pope Francis on Wednesday to implement “zero tolerance” against clerical sex abuse. Prior to a significant Vatican meeting on the future of the Church that will begin next week, the 10 men and women travelled 130 kilometres (81 miles) over the final section of the Via Francigena, a mediaeval trail that connects Canterbury, England, with Rome. The pilgrimage “shows the determination of survivors to come to deliver their message to Pope Francis … that there must be a universal law of the church of zero tolerance,” said U.S. attorney Timothy Law, co-founder of Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA). “Anything less than that is not adequate”, he added. The Catholic Church’s reputation has been ruined by sexual abuse and cover-up scandals, which has presented a significant challenge to the pope. The pope has passed a number of measures intended to make the Church leadership more accountable, with varying degrees of success. Law stated that ECA wants Francis to order the prompt dismissal from ministry of priests accused of abusing children, the dismissal of bishops found to have covered up abuse, and the requirement that abuse cases be reported to civil authorities rather than religious ones. While opponents claim Francis’ reforms and directives have not gone far enough and have been unevenly accepted by national Catholic Churches, he has pledged “zero tolerance” in regards to church abuse. Prior to the synod, a Vatican gathering of world bishops that took place from October 4–29, ECA activists travelled to Rome. It is scheduled to cover a variety of topics, including how to treat LGBT people and how to give women in the Church a bigger role. “I don’t know how you can move into a future if you have not solved the criminal problem of (predator) priests and cover-up by the hierarchy in the Catholic Church,” Peter Isely, another U.S.-based member of ECA, said about the synod. (With agency inputs)