Priestly Sex Abuse Survivors Slam Five Papal Candidates

Views on BG | April 16, 2005, Saturday // 00:00

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a support group for abuse survivors, announced the names of five cardinals who are "morally unacceptable as papal candidates".

SNAP has blacklisted Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City, Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of state under Pope John Paul II, Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy under the late pope, and Cardinal Francisco Errazuriz Ossa of Santiago, Chile.

The five papal candidates do not understand the gravity of priestly sex abuse of minors, according to SNAP, which has based its list on statements it said the cardinals have made in the media.

As the crisis of sex abuse by priests will grow to other countries beyond the United States, we believe that it should be a factor in choosing the next pope, said Barbara Blaine, founder and president of SNAP, as cited by the Catholic News Service.

SNAP blacklisted Cardinal Rodriguez for his comparison of press coverage of clergy sex abuse to a "witch hunt," and Cardinal Rivera for his 2002 comments accusing U.S. media of persecuting the Catholic Church.

The group criticized Cardinal Sodano for reportedly raising questions with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about a class-action lawsuit in Kentucky that named the Vatican as a defendant.

Cardinal Castrillon, said SNAP, has a "misguided view of the roots of the abuse scandal," while Cardinal Errazuriz "has publicly expressed grave doubts about a 'zero tolerance' approach to sexual abuse by clerics."

Workers at the Vatican erected Friday the chimney to the roof of the Sistine Chapel which will first tell the world that a new pope has been elected.

The cardinals - the "princes" of the Roman Catholic Church - convene the conclave to choose John Paul II's successor on Monday.

They will hold two balloting sessions a day - each with two votes.

If no candidate secures a majority, the ballots are placed in a stove and burned with an additive to produce black smoke.

When the cardinals reach a decision, the ballots are burned with an additive to produce white smoke.

Pope John Paul II died on 2 April after a papacy lasting 26 years.

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