Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s recent statement linking pedophilia to homosexuality is yet another example of the Vatican’s crude attempt to avoid dealing earnestly with serious cases of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. Bertone based his remarks on statistics prepared for the Vatican which purportedly showed a correlation between gay priests and pedophilia.
These outlandish remarks led to a half-hearted clarification by Vatican Press Secretary Federico Lombardi, though Lombardi’s comments did not address the Catholic Church’s continued insistence on linking pedophilia to homosexuality.
Egale Canada condemns such harmful and baseless statements, and urges the Vatican to address the true roots of the Catholic Church’s child sexual abuse crisis: namely, decades filled with cover-ups, the transfer of abusive priests within the Church, cultivating a culture of secrecy and hierarchy, and protecting the image of the Church at the expense of children’s welfare.
Today is the Day of Silence—a time that is set aside to think about hurtful homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic language that harms all youth, especially lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, two-spirited, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, youth perceived as LGBTQ, and youth with LGBTQ parents. The Catholic Church’s attempt to use the LGBTQ community as a scapegoat for its own sexual abuse of children is a large-scale example of this. In trying to vilify the LGBTQ community, the Church continues to endanger the youth in its care.
All signatories of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child, including Canada, have a duty to uphold its tenets: each of these States has pledged that they will ensure the well-being of children. As we approach the G8 and G20 summits, Egale insists that State governments fulfill their commitment to youth around the world by holding the Vatican responsible and accountable for the vile acts that have been committed by members of the Church. State governments must step up and finally meaningfully protect the rights and dignity of both adolescent girls and boys in religious institutions.
Egale is Canada’s LGBT human rights organization: advancing equality, diversity, education, and justice.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Helen Kennedy 416-642-5027