Church rejects accusations against pope

In Britain, a BBC public broadcaster's report on a Vatican document on child abuse has sparked massive protests from the Catholic Church. The TV report is a "deeply biased attack" on Pope Benedict XVI., criticized the Catholic Church in England and Wales on Monday.

In Great Britain, a report by the public broadcaster BBC about a Vatican document on child abuse has triggered massive protests from the Catholic Church. The TV report is a "deeply biased attack" on Pope Benedict XVI., criticized the Catholic Church in England and Wales on Monday. The President of the Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, sent a letter of complaint to BBC Director General Mark Thompson. Vatican secret document allegedly prescribes systematic cover-up The subject of Sunday night's BBC report was a secret Vatican document that allegedly mandates the systematic cover-up of child abuse within the Catholic Church. According to this account, the current pope, in his former capacity as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was instrumental in pushing through these instructions."The program's message is false because it misrepresents two Vatican documents and also misleadingly uses them to link the pope to the horrors of child abuse," chided Birmingham Archbishop Vincent Nichols. Nichols also explained that the composition of the contribution, the use of old recordings and undated interviews mislead viewers.The program in the series "Panorama" referred to the 1962 document "Crimen Sollicitationis". There had been allegations of clergy sexual abuse of minors in the past, especially in the Catholic Church in the U.S., but also in Great Britain and Austria. In the USA, the pedophilia scandal led to the resignation of bishops, and in Ireland several priests were sentenced.(epd)

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