Victims' dad to confront pope
2008-07-16 11:39
Sydney - A scandal over sex abuse by priests which has partly overshadowed Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Australia intensified on Wednesday after the parents of two victims said they planned to confront him.
The pope has said he will apologise to those abused by predatory priests during his visit to Australia for World Youth Day this week, which has attracted an estimated 215 000 pilgrims from around the world.
But the father of two girls abused by a Melbourne priest, one of whom committed suicide, said he and his wife would travel back to Australia from Europe for a confrontation.
"I'll accept an apology if the pope will wholeheartedly embrace the notion of begging forgiveness from victims and supporting them in every way possible," Anthony Foster told the Australian Broadcasting Corp, calling on the pontiff to help victims "have a reasonable life".
Foster said he planned to make a public statement when he arrived and would demand a response from the pope and the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Australia, Cardinal George Pell.
He said he hoped the Pope would meet him, to hear his demands for the church to adopt a new approach to the victims of abuse.
'They should be coming to us to beg our forgiveness'
"I should not have to try to see them. They should be coming to us to beg our forgiveness," he said.
Foster's daughter Emma committed suicide this year aged 26, after struggling to deal with abuse by a priest while she was at primary school.
Her sister Katie was also abused and turned to alcohol in her teens before being left brain-damaged after being hit by a car while drunk, ABC said.
The priest involved, Father Kevin O'Donnell, died in 1997 after serving time in jail for multiple sex offences but the Fosters had to fight an eight-year legal battle for compensation from the church.
World Youth Day co-ordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher told reporters most people were focusing on the positive aspects of World Youth Day "rather than dwelling crankily as a few people are doing on old wounds".
Pell later described the story of Emma Foster as "tragic", saying he apologised to her and her family in 1998.
Unreported cases
"I met with her parents. We offered them some financial help. We also offered them counselling," he told reporters.
Australian bishops issued an apology for past abuses in 2002 and Pell has said papal comments on the issue would be "a welcome contribution".
The pope made a historic apology for the actions of child-abusing clergy in April during a visit to the United States, where the church also faces a long-running sex scandal.
Broken Rites, a support group for victims of church-related sexual abuse, says that 107 Catholic priests and religious brothers have been sentenced in Australian courts on sex charges.
But it believes many more cases have gone unreported or have never made it to court because the victims have taken their complaints to the church instead of the police.
It accuses the church of hypocrisy by spending millions on World Youth Day when sex abuse victims are paid just A$25 000 on average in compensation.
Pell last week ordered an independent, church-appointed panel to investigate claims he had tried to cover up sexual abuse allegations in 2003.