Catholic priests say they “live in a state of persecution” over child abuse scandals

Catholic priests say they live in a “state of persecution” amid ongoing investigations into allegations of sexual abuse dating back decades.

In tonight’s Inside the Vatican, part two of a BBC 2 documentary, members of the clergy address the scandal that rocked the Catholic Church last summer and the resounding impact it has had.

Holy See Foreign Minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher says things have changed “very drastically” due to declining confidence in the establishment.

Don Luigi, a priest who has lived in the Vatican since he first arrived as a 12-year-old altar boy, says he now feels the clergy are living in a “kind of persecution by the media “.

“The Church in particular is under attack from all sides. Hearing about ministers accused of abuse does not make life easier for all the other priests, ”he explains on the show.

“Unfortunately, we risk seeing the Church only from this point of view, but there are many fine examples of priests who truly give their lives to God every day. “

He adds that he enjoys passing his religion on to the younger members of his congregation and helping them come closer to their faith, but church attendance is dropping sharply, with many closed throughout the Western world.

Benjamin Harnwell, from Leicester, who leads a conservative think tank and questions some of the pope’s innovations, says these problems in the Church run deep, due to a growing lack of faith “through the laity, the bishops, the priests ”.

However, he adds, “if we do not keep the Catholic face, we will not attract anyone to him, in terms of faith and in terms of vocations”.

sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, explaining how they have handled it since late 1990s” class=”blkBorder img-share” style=”max-width:100%” />

Journalist Christopher Lamb, who is a devout Catholic himself (pictured meeting Pope Francis) describes Ireland as the ‘Ground Zero’ of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, explaining how they have handled it since late 1990s

“This is the crisis that the Catholic Church is going through, and I would like attention to be devoted to this crisis,” he said.

At the end of August last year, Pope Francis was preparing to visit Ireland – the first papal visit in 39 years – when, two weeks before his trip, the church was rocked by a scandal.

A scathing report was released in Pennsylvania alleging a cover-up of sexual abuse by Catholic clergymen dating back decades, with evidence of more than 300 predatory priests exploiting child victims.

Since then, the Catholic Dioceses of Pennsylvania and New Jersey have launched major compensation programs.

Each year the Vatican deals with hundreds of cases of priests accused of abuse.

While in Ireland, Pope Francis asked for forgiveness from members of the Catholic Church hierarchy who “remained silent” about child sexual abuse.

“What you got was a perfect storm of events,” says journalist Christopher Lamb, who is a devout Catholic himself.

“You had Pennsylvania, and then [the Pope] went to ireland in that context so it all exploded over that weekend in august.

He describes Ireland as the “Ground Zero” of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, explaining how they have handled this situation since the late 1990s.

“It’s not just the thousands of victims of sexual abuse in the church, but it’s the cover-ups by church leaders and bishops, not just in Ireland but across the world,” adds Christopher.

“I think this was the most difficult journey of his papacy. He wanted to go to Ireland because there was a family reunion, but it turned out to be a very difficult trip because the whole story was about the sex abuse scandals.

“It would be wrong if the Pope went to Ireland and didn’t mention the elephant in the room. It is a huge crisis.

In a speech, Pope Francis highlighted the failures of religious leaders to adequately deal with these “disgusting” crimes – calling them “a source of suffering and shame for the Catholic community“.

He pledged to “eliminate this scourge” in the Church.

According to Christopher, this marked a big change in the papacy, as the Pope recognized that priests can make mistakes and essentially admitted their responsibility, with the promise of trying to fix the problem.

Father Hans Zollner, a psychologist and one of the leading experts on sexual abuse working in the Catholic Church who has served on the Pope’s special commission for the protection of minors since 2014, says that in doing so, the Pope François put it on the agenda “all over the world”.

Each year the Vatican deals with hundreds of cases of priests accused of sexual abuse, often with minors

“It will stay with us for a very long time and we have to face it,” says Father Hans.

“If you don’t actively face it, it will come back to us somehow, so either you accept it or it will confront you.”

Father Hans trained as a psychologist and psychotherapist in the mid-1990s and says he was among the few students at any type of university in the world to have learned specifically about sexual violence and deviance. , including sadomasochism, masochism, voyeurism, and pedophilia.

“Society needs to reach a certain level of readiness and willpower to face this, because it looks like a mirror when you see a monster’s face and no one really wants to face it that easily,” he observes. .

In Ireland, Pope Francis asks for forgiveness from members of the Catholic Church hierarchy who have “kept silent” on child sexual abuse

“There is a feeling that in the church a priest can do whatever he wants without being responsible for it.

“Of course, it’s a huge crisis in terms of lack of trust, of lack of trust, because who else is supposed to live what he preaches if not a priest? ”

Archbishop Gallagher says he has seen a change in his native South Liverpool, where the church he attended is no longer active.

“They disaffected it, and when I walk past it when I get home, it’s really sad to think that there’s the church where I grew up, where I went with my family, where I go. said my first mass as a priest, and it is no longer used as a place of worship, ”he says.

“It’s hard to manage. One would always like some permanence in one’s life, but it’s definitely an indication that things have changed and the question really is, have they changed for the better?

Catholic faith after reporting the sexual abuse crisis, reporter Christopher says seeing Pope Francis speak and the church’s work on the ground is “inspiring.”” class=”blkBorder img-share” style=”max-width:100%” />

Despite moments of “desolation” about his Catholic faith after reporting the sexual abuse crisis, reporter Christopher says seeing Pope Francis speak and the church’s work on the ground is “inspiring.”

But Father Hans is optimistic, believing that the future holds for a Catholic Church with a “different faith”.

At the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, he and his colleagues set up postgraduate training courses, taught by a nun, in child protection, anxious to ensure that the scandal of sexual abuse committed by the clergy does not not recur in future generations.

“It is the first university to offer a university degree in the field of safeguarding,” he says.

“We need specialists who are really capable not only of executing directives, of putting them in place, but also of developing them, of updating them with dialogue, with science, with the police, with the legal system of the country.

“We need people who are better informed, more competent and better prepared to do whatever needs to be done to keep young people safe. ”

Archbishop Gallagher says he has seen a change in his native South Liverpool, where the church he attended is no longer active

Father Hans explains that the Catholic Church is a “much more complex reality” than people realize.

Speaking of training, he adds: “This is an area that few people talk about easily; it is happening now, but there is still a discomfort and unwillingness to really take it on as a society and as a church.

“There is a great need to prepare a different generation of people through education and information. It’s not an immediate fix for anything, but it’s the start of a better future. ‘

Despite moments of “desolation” about his Catholic faith after reporting the sexual abuse crisis, reporter Christopher says seeing Pope Francis speak out and the church’s work on the ground is “inspiring.”

“You think there is something the church has,” he said.

Inside the Vatican airs tonight at 9 p.m. on BBC Two.