AFP April 8, 2008
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Days before Pope Benedict XVI was due to begin a historic visit to the United States, a support group for some 9,000 Americans who say they were sexually abused by Catholic clergymen on Tuesday urged the pontiff to act against pedophile priests.
“We are looking for the holy father to hold the enablers and wrongdoers accountable,” Barbara Blaine, head of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP), told reporters outside the papal nuncio in Washington, where Benedict XVI is due to begin his first visit as pope to the United States next week.
In January, SNAP sent a letter to the pope calling on him to meet with victims of predator priests when he visits Washington and New York, “to assist in the unfinished healing that needs to occur,” Blaine said, reading from the letter.
“We didn’t hear back. We believe the pope will meet with victims, but those victims will have been hand-picked by US bishops,” said the 51-year-old, accusing the bishops of protecting priests who abuse children.
“We are fearful that the pope is only given information that is filtered through the US Catholic bishops, and these are the same bishops who have enabled and promoted and covered up for child abusers,” said Blaine, who was sexually molested by a priest when she was 12.