The Washington Post
In Philippines, a child alleges abuse by Catholic priest — and tests Vatican promise for global reckoning
CADIZ CITY, Philippines — The girl, her long hair in a ponytail, stepped into the cramped, dimly lit courtroom, her first time in such a place. Clinging to her mother, she scanned the dozens of faces assembled before her. The girl, then 5 years old, eventually pointed to a bald man in a striped shirt, his spectacles resting on his head.
She appeared nervous and did not speak his name.
Her slight gesture in September — identifying the Rev. Aron Buenacosa as the man who sexually assaulted her — began the rare trial in the Philippines of a priest of the Roman Catholic Church. Her case, in this quiet village on a central Philippine island, will also test Pope Francis’s pledge of an “all-out battle” to confront sexual abuse in all corners of the Catholic world.
The historical reckoning over abuse and coverups has gripped the church in the West for decades. But far fewer public cases have come from other parts of the Catholic world, including Africa, Asia and the pontiff’s homeland in Latin America.
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About 8 in 10 Filipinos are Catholic, and the faith permeates every facet of life in the country, from education to state affairs. Politicians have historically relied on religious leaders for endorsements, made a show of piousness during campaigns and shied away from subjects such as abortion for fear of angering the faithful.
Alleged abuse by Philippine priests has been documented for more than a generation, but it has gone largely unpunished. People making abuse claims against Catholic priests have to battle against bureaucracy, corruption in government agencies and a severely backlogged court system.
Only a handful of cases come to court trials, and even when priests admit wrongdoing, the system still leans in their favor. No priest has been convicted of child abuse or other sexual misconduct.
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This article is huge and I'm not going to copy & paste the whole thing. What I put here is enough. The Catholic Church needs to be completely destroyed. The Catholics who feed the child abusers need to be ridiculed relentlessly. They are equal to the child abusers. Catholics need to be wiped off this planet.
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