1355 - Victims rejecting bid to curb abuses Vatican

People who say they suffered sexual abuse by priests met in Rome on Saturday to condemn the most recent Vatican efforts to show it is cracking down on clerical abuse

About 50 alleged victims, mostly Italian, gathered for an all-day symposium on the psychological and legal issues surrounding the abuse. The group, which included several former students of a renowned school for the deaf in Verona where dozens of people reported abuse, ended the day with a march to the Parliament of Italy.

One of the organizers, Domolo Salvatore, a former priest of 46 years who said he suffered abuse from eight to 11 years of age by his pastor at Novarra, said the victims were outraged following the letter sent this week by the Vatican to bishops around the world asking them to write guidelines to combat abuse.

In his letter, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith emphasized the central role of religious leaders in handling abuse cases at a time which has again been called into question the credibility of the bishops to enforce child protection policies . Recent reports lay evaluation committees in the United States and Ireland have argued that some bishops continue to employ practices lock and showing a reluctance to report abusers.

And just on Saturday, the Church and the Salesian order in the Netherlands said they were investigating revelations that priests of that order were part of the board of a group that promotes pedophilia and campaigns to end the Dutch ban sex between children and adults , with full knowledge by his superior.

The Vatican has proposed the set of non-mandatory general suggestions as a guide to help the bishops to enact their own policies against abuse. The recommendations included listening to victims and offer spiritual and psychological as well as ensuring that priests are educated and prepared to lead a life of celibacy.

Advocates for victims have disqualified the initiative as lacking teeth because it does not provide an enforcement mechanism to ensure that the bishops actually follow the design guidelines, and because rejecting the role of lay evaluation committees, which have been the only ones to date have verified compliance by the bishops.