Sawt Falasteen - Watchdog accuses papal contenders of ignoring sex abuse

Cardinals gathered at the Vatican ahead of the conclave starting May 7 have identified the scandal of sexual abuse of minors by priests as one of the top challenges facing the Catholic Church today.

But a watchdog group warned Friday that two top papal contenders -- cardinals Parolin, who served as secretary of state under the late Pope Francis, and Tagle, the former archbishop of Manila -- would fall short.

"If Cardinal Parolin becomes pope we will have a consummate secret-keeper running the Catholic Church and I think any hope of transparency around sex abuse will be dashed completely," Anne Barrett Doyle, the co-director of BishopAccountability.org, told a press conference just outside the Vatican walls.

"No church official in the world has withheld as many documents about abuse to civil authorities as Cardinal Parolin," said Doyle, whose group tracks information on such cases.

Doyle cited numerous examples of "obstruction of justice" around the world, including Chile, Britain and Poland, for which she called Parolin ultimately responsible.

In one example, a four-year investigation begun in 2013 by a royal commission in Australia counted 4,400 abused children and 1,100 clerics. Pressed for documents, the Vatican handed over files on just two priests, she said.

Asked by AFP about the accusations made against both cardinals, a Vatican spokesman denied to comment.

- Dark ages -

The Church in the Philippines, where the affable and politically influential Tagle served as archbishop of Manila between 2011 and 2019, remains in the "dark ages" on the subject of clerical sex abuse, Doyle said.

Guidelines dealing with sexual abuse cases have not been published on the webpages of the Manila archdiocese nor the bishops' conference of the Philippines, she said.

"If Cardinal Tagle cannot even get his brother bishops from his home country to publish guidelines, what on earth can we expect for him to achieve as pope of a global church?" asked Doyle.

In the majority-Catholic Philippines, only one victim has ever come forward publicly, she said.

Michal Gatchalian, a 44-year-old lawyer who spoke to journalists via videolink from the Philippines, said he was one of many boys he knew to have been groped and touched at age 17 by a "serial predator" at his church.

After accusing the priest in 2002, he said he was subjected to threats, ostracism and harassment by members of his church.

The priest was only defrocked in the past three years, he said.

Doyle and Gatchalian both acknowledged there was no proof directly tying Tagle -- a highly respected figure in the majority-Catholic Philippines -- to any cover-ups, while cautioning that information was scant.

Still, Gatchalian said, there had been "no noticeable effort" under his watch to tackle sexual abuse.

"We haven't seen a proactive effort... to solve this, to prevent this," he said, adding "doing nothing is still the same as covering up."

Shay Cullen, an Irish missionary priest and advocate for children in the Philippines, agreed.

"I don't think Cardinal Tagle is really committed and dedicated to protecting the children. We need a fighter for the rights of the child," he said via videolink.

Tagle served as the head of the world's second-largest charitable association, Caritas Internationalis, from 2015 until 2022, when he and the entire leadership team was removed by Francis after a Vatican-led audit found "deficiencies" in management and procedures.

Questions were later raised by campaigners about what he knew about the hiring of Belgian priest and convicted child sex offender, Luk Delft, by Caritas in the Central African Republic.

Survivors' concerns over possible popes are not limited to Parolin and Tagle, however, with Doyle saying she had "pretty much concerns about all of them".

"No matter how nice a man becomes pope I don't believe the church is yet ready to change the page on child sexual abuse. I'm pessimistic."

T.Ibrahim--SF-PST