Why is Italy delaying its response to sexual abuse in the Catholic Church?

Four years ago, Pope Francis called for a major world summit to address the problem of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and pledged to end cover-ups. But the Vatican has often been accused of not doing enough to address the issue compared to other countries.

A special panel set up in 2014 to advise Pope Francis on ways to better protect minors from clergy sexual abuse came under heavy scrutiny in 2017 when Marie Collins, an Irish abuse survivor and panelist, left the group because of the church’s unwillingness to change.

“When I resigned, I wanted it to be known that there was resistance,” Marie revealed. “I wanted it to be known that the Commission had tried to do its job … within the Curia.”

“Vatican Power and Politics [were] concerned. They wanted to control the commission, take away our independence. They were afraid of any changes we might make. And it still goes back to the heart of the whole problem from the very beginning: saving the reputation of the church,” she added.

Italy seems to have taken a different approach to sexual abuse in the Catholic Church compared to other countries.

In the absence of an independent investigation or involvement from the Italian state, and since there are no official figures, it has been left to the country’s only campaign group to collect what it can.

Euronews spoke to the chairman of the Abuse Network group, Francesco Zanardi, who herself is an abuse survivor. The campaign group has just released its most comprehensive report to date with over 400 recorded cases over the past 13 years.

“The total number of potential victims that a priest can abuse differently than a lay person is what matters. This is mainly due to cover-ups and the fact that instead of reporting to the police, the priest is often moved from one church to another, which leads to more victims’, explains Francesco Zanardi. “In Italy there are three times as many priests. than in France.”

The report has been sent to the Italian authorities to raise awareness of the problem. It was estimated that the total number of victims in the country would be close to 1 million.

The Italian Episcopal Conference released a report in November on the reported cases over the past two years. The 41-page document revealed 89 suspected victims, based on complaints collected by so-called “listening centers” set up in dioceses.

The Vctims groups said the true number of cases was likely much higher and called the report’s limited scope “shameful”.

“Italy is still a very homogeneous country from a cultural and social point of view,” Iacopo Scaramuzzi, Vatican correspondent for La Repubblica newspaper, told Euronews.

“I’m not saying we’re all Catholic, but every Italian has some connection to the Catholic Church, be it through the family or in the past. That’s why it takes longer here and it’s more difficult for people in general to become Catholic. become.” know what is going on,” he added.