Newspaper: Italian Bishops Write Letter to Victims of Abuse

Chairman Bassetti announces "full cooperation with civil authorities" 

Rome (kath.net/KAP) Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, has written a letter to Italian victims of abuse, according to a media report. This was reported by the newspaper "Il Messaggero" on its website. Accordingly, the Episcopal Conference announces that it will cooperate with the Italian judiciary. At their meeting in May, the bishops said they wanted to "fully cooperate with civil authorities," the newspaper quoted from the letter to Francesco Zanardi, founder of the Italian victims' association "Rete l'abuso". 

The bishops wanted to avoid "any forms of concealment, whether by the victims or their families, or by ecclesiastical authorities." Action must be determined by "respect for the truth, justice and the well-being of the child, as well as people in charge of protection." These should come first. The Episcopal Conference also wants to order that in the commissions of the dioceses for dealing with cases of abuse victims should also be represented, it says to other contents of the letter. 

Zanardi had been disappointed after the four-day Catholic anti-abuse summit in the Vatican. The victims would have expected something different at the end of the global meeting - "at least the announcement of the expulsion of several bishops," he told the Italian daily La Repubblica. 

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
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