Proposal to condemn Pope over sex abuse rejected in Italy
May 6th, 2010 - 11:19 pm ICT by IANSVaiano Cremasco, May 6 (IANS/AKI) A council in the north of Italy rejected a proposal from a communist councillor who sought to condemn Pope Benedict XVI for what he considered inaction over the paedophile scandal engulfing the Catholic Church.
The 17-member council of Vaiano Cremasco, a small town of 4, 000 people 40 km from Milan, voted against the measure proposed by council member and former mayor Giovanni Alchieri.
Alchiery cast the sole vote in favour of the proposal and called on his colleagues to express their “lack of solidarity” over the pope’s failure to take action on sex abuse allagations against priests.
The Vatican is seeking to contain the damage caused by the alleged sexual abuse of thousands of children by paedophile clerics and lay brothers over the past 60 years in Europe and North America.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi expressed his solidarity with the pope after Benedict issued an historic pastoral letter expressing a heartfelt apology over sexual abuse in the Irish Catholic Church. Berlusconi described it as an incredibly effective response to a difficult situation.
–IANS/AKI
hv/vt
- Italian church welcomes legal action in sex abuse cases - Oct 02, 2010
- Pope calls for Church to reflect on what led to abuse - Dec 21, 2010
- 70 Belgians to sue Vatican for clerical sex abuse - Apr 30, 2011
- Belgian priest quizzed over sex abuse - Jul 07, 2010
- Sex abuse victims meet Vatican spokesman - Nov 02, 2010
- Vatican releases Papal book - Nov 24, 2010
- Pope deplores raids on Belgian bishops - Jun 28, 2010
- Sex abuse 'victim' to sue the Pope in US - Apr 23, 2010
- 4,000 cases of Catholic priests abusing kids probed - Feb 08, 2012
- Pope turns 85 - Apr 16, 2012
- Vatican urges prudence in assessing WikiLeaks documents - Dec 14, 2010
- Hague court asked to prosecute Pope over sex abuse - Sep 14, 2011
- German bishop accused of hitting kids resigns - Apr 22, 2010
- Priests' sex abuse is 'weakness of sin', says Pope - May 28, 2010
- Clergy celibacy may be open to review, says Vatican - Apr 28, 2010
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