TIMES ONLINE: The Vatican moved to distance itself today from comments made by the Pope’s top aide linking paedophilia to homosexuality, as the Foreign Office dismissed suggestions that the pontiff could be arrested when he visits Britain in September.
Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said that the remarks by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, went outside the remit of Church authorities, adding that the comments had been misunderstood.
“General assertions of a specifically psychological or medical nature” were the responsibility of specialists and not Church officials, he said in a statement.
Father Lombardi said that Cardinal Bertone had been referring only to cases of paedophilia in the clergy and not to “the world population”.
He said that recent “statistical data” on the abuse of minors by priests showed that 10 per cent of the cases concerned paedophilia “in the strict sense”, while the other 90 per cent concerned sex between priests and adolescents.
Catholic bishops of England and Wales also distanced themselves from the comments.
Father Marcus Stock, general secretary of the Bishops’ Conference, said in a statement: “To the best of my knowledge there is no empirical data which concludes that sexual orientation is connected to child sexual abuse.
“The consensus among researchers is that the sexual abuse of children is not a question of sexual orientation, whether heterosexual or homosexual, but of a disordered attraction or fixation.”
He added: “Many abusers of children have never developed the capacity for mature adult relationships. Instead, their sexual attractions focus on children — boys, girls, or both. In the sexual abuse of children the issue is the sexual fixation of the abusers and not their sexual orientation.”
France added its voice to the chorus of condemnation, saying that it was “unacceptable” to lump paedophilia with homosexuality. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “This is an unacceptable linkage and we condemn this. Vatican: paedophilia-homosexuality comments were ‘misunderstood’ >>> Ruth Gledhill and Richard Owen in Rome | Wednesday, April 14, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Vatican climbdown over sex abuse remarks by senior cardinal: UK bishops have denounced Tarcisio Bertone after he said paedophilia was linked to homosexuality >>> Riazat Butt and John Hooper, Rome | Wednesday, April 14, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has issued a rare public rebuttal of the Vatican following suggestions made by its second-in-command that the sexual abuse of children was linked to homosexuality.
In a sign of tension between the hierarchies over how best to handle public outrage over child abuse, Father Marcus Stock, the general secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference, said research showed that paedophilia was "not a question" of sexual orientation.
His comments followed remarks by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the most senior aide to Pope Benedict XVI, claiming that research had clearly linked homosexuality and paedophilia.
Cardinal Bertone, the Holy See's secretary of state, said that homosexuality was the "problem" that caused Catholic priests to molest children. Father Stock said: "To the best of my knowledge, there is no empirical data which concludes that sexual orientation is connected to child sexual abuse.
"The consensus among researchers is that the sexual abuse of children is not a question of sexual "orientation", whether heterosexual or homosexual, but of a disordered attraction or "fixation". Many abusers of children have never developed the capacity for mature adult relationships. Instead, their sexual attractions focus on children – boys, girls, or both." >>> Peter Hutchison and Nick Squires in Rome | Wednesday, April 14, 2010
