Pope denounces paedophilia as new details of six-year-old girl's death emerge in Italy
'We must protect our minors and severely punish abusers'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Pope Francis has used his weekly Sunday message to denounce paedophilia, following the emergence of new details surrounding the alleged rape and murder of an Italian girl in 2014.
“This is a tragedy. We should not tolerate the abuse of minors,” said Pope Francis, in his message and blessing to St Peter’s Square.
“We must protect our minors and severely punish abusers.”
The Pope’s comments followed new revelations in the case of a six-year-old girl who died in June 2014, after allegedly being thrown from an eighth-story balcony in Naples.
A 43-year-old man is being held in a prison in Rome charged with throwing the girl from a housing block in a deprived area of the city after raping her, following a re-opening of the case. He has denied the charges.
The case has dominated Italian media coverage in recent days and on Saturday, Italian President Sergio Mattarella called for an “ample, rapid and severe” judicial process during the case.
For decades, the Catholic Church has been shaken by its own abuse scandals and has been reluctant to admit culpability in the widespread abuse by priests in its orders.
Scandals have been discovered around the world and tens of millions of dollars have been paid in compensation.
The film Spotlight, which won the 2016 Oscar for Best Picture, focuses on the investigation by journalists at the Boston Globe in 2002, which exposed a cover up of sexual abuse by local church authorities.
The Pope has vowed a “zero tolerance” for abusers in the Church, however victims groups have accused him of not doing enough.
In March, Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s treasurer and the highest-ranking official called the violation of more than 50 children by one priest a subject that “wasn’t of much interest” to him, while testifying in an Australian inquiry into historic child abuse within the clergy.
The Australian Cardinal was a priest in the city of Ballarat in the early 1970s and was questioned on his knowledge of widespread sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy in the area over a period of decades.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments