Abuse survivor criticises Pope’s family exhortation

The absence of any substantial discussion of child sexual abuse in the papal exhortation Amoris Laetitia has been criticised by an Irish male survivor of clerical sexual abuse who met the Pope, writes Sarah Mac Donald.

Mark Vincent Healy, who met Pope Francis in 2014, expressed disappointment that though there are more than 300 references to children in Amoris Laetitia there is only one which addresses the sexual abuse of children.
Describing child sexual abuse as a “familial crisis which cuts to the heart of the crisis in the Catholic Church”, he said that the vast majority of those who are disillusioned or lapsed cite the hierarchy’s response to victims.
Mr Healy was surprised not to find any attempt to address the need for healing within a family divided by the issue of abuse and how to address the human and spiritual cost of abuse on victims.

“What I did find was an exhortation to cherish the child by way of an instruction on page 129: ‘A child is a human being of immense worth and may never be used for one’s own benefit.’”

Mr Healy is in ongoing talks with religious orders over the treatment of clerical abuse survivors in Africa.