Vatican aims to lead the fight against abuse

The Vatican said today it was committed to leading the fight against paedophilia.

But it said the problem was not specific to the Catholic Church and that other institutions should take responsibility as well.

Vatican spokesman the Rev Federico Lombardi spoke to Vatican Radio after the Los Angeles archdiocese reached a $660m (€494m) settlement with more than 500 alleged victims of clergy sex abuse – the largest payout yet in the US scandal.

Lombardi said the agreement “closed a painful page” and that it allowed the Church to look ahead to prevention efforts and to creating a secure environment for young people in the Church.

“The Church is obviously above all saddened by the suffering of the victims and their families, by the profound wounds caused by the inexcusable and grave behaviour of various church members, and is determined to commit itself in every way to prevent the repetition of such wickedness,” he said.

However, he said, other institutions should also take similar responsibility, since sex abuse of young people is not exclusive to the Catholic Church.

“They too should take decisions and necessary measures,” he said, without naming the institutions.

Regardless, Lombardi said the Church would “participate as a leader in the fight against paedophilia, which today involves growing sectors of society in many countries of the world”.

Pope Benedict XVI has spoken out strongly against the clergy sex scandal, endorsing efforts to discover the truth about allegations and help the victims heal.

In an October 2006 meeting with bishops from Ireland – an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country where all but one seminary closed following repeated sex scandals – Benedict urged the bishops to do what was necessary to rebuild confidence and trust among the faithful.

“It is important to establish the truth of what happened in the past, to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent it from occurring again, to ensure that the principles of justice are fully respected and, above all, to bring healing to the victims and to all those affected by these egregious crimes,” he said then.