Freethought & Rationalism Archive

mecca777 · 08-17-2003, 02:16 AM

Quote:

From the article
The Observer has obtained a 40-year-old confidential document from the secret Vatican archive which lawyers are calling a 'blueprint for deception and concealment'. One British lawyer acting for Church child abuse victims has described it as 'explosive'.

The 69-page Latin document bearing the seal of Pope John XXIII was sent to every bishop in the world. The instructions outline a policy of 'strictest' secrecy in dealing with allegations of sexual abuse and threatens those who speak out with excommunication.

The document is available as a 1770kb pdf download from the Observer site, but as it's in Latin you may not want to bother.

Does this prove that the Church was engaged in organised efforts to hush up accusations of sexual misconduct? It certainly seems to point that way. According to the article, Cardinal Ratzinger was enforcing this edict as recently as May 2001; do you think that Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and Berrnard Law were acting with these orders in mind?

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