So how are abuse victim groups reacting to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone's remarks, linking church pedophilia with homosexuality?
You might have guessed: negatively.
This is a statement released today by Barbara Dorris, Outreach Director of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Bertone's statements rub even more salt into the already-deep and still-fresh wounds of hundreds of thousands of men and women who have been assaulted by clerics and betrayed by bishops, especially women and girls. They deny and minimize the deep devastation felt by hundreds of thousands of women and girls who are suffering and have suffered because of pedophile priests and corrupt supervisors.
This alleged pedophilia-ephebophilia "distinction" is like a bank robber minimizing his crimes by claiming he pointed a small pistol at the innocent patrons and took only $50 bills, not $100 bills.
If the Pope wants to stop his staff from saying hurtful things, he should discipline the next one who does, instead of sending his PR man out to duck, dodge, deny and distance the pontiff from the mean-spirited and misguided remarks of his underlings.
