Updated on
Summary
Pope Benedict reminded his Church on Friday that its first priority was to provide a safe environment for children as the pontiff was met by the first substantial protest of his delicate visit to Britain. Several hundred people whistled and shouted as the papal motorcade entered a Catholic school complex in Twickenham, southwest London. We are appealing to the pope to open up the Vatican sex abuse files and hand them over to the relevant police forces worldwide. The fact that the pope is refusing to do so calls into question the sincerity of his apology. In fact, he hasn't apologise for his own personal failings. He always apologises for others and we think it is time the pope himself apologised for his failure, said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. The shouting of the protesters duelled with the singing of hymns from inside the school, where the pope held what was dubbed the big assembly of several thousand Catholic school children from throughout Britain. The sex abuse scandal, in which priests who abused children were moved from parish to parish instead of being defrocked to turned over to police, has hounded Benedict's five-year papacy even though most of the abuse took place decades ago. Advocates for victims have long been calling for Church leaders to assume more legal and moral responsibility for allowing the sexual abuse scandals to get out of hand in the United States and several countries in Europe. Some accused the pope of being part of a system that turned a blind eye to abuse for decades when he held other Church offices. British bishops have dealt with the problem of child sex abuse earlier, more quickly and more decisively than in other countries such as Ireland or the United States. The Catholic Church in Britain runs some 2,800 schools, including 22 universities and the pope defended the work of schools, which are attending by many non-Catholics.
