Vatican City
Female priests as bad as rapists? The Vatican has revised its rules for disciplining priests accused of molesting children, doubling the statute of limitations for bringing allegations and calling pedophilia a “grave crime.” But molestation victims said the revisions were too weak, because they didn’t require bishops to report abuse or call for the punishment of those who covered it up. Other critics expressed outrage that the revised rules also list the ordination of women as a “grave crime,” subject to the same procedures and punishments as sex abuse. “The idea that women seeking to spread the message of God somehow defiles the Eucharist,” said Catholic activist Erin Saiz Hanna, “reveals an antiquated, backward church that still views women as unclean and unholy.” The Vatican said it hadn’t intended to equate attemps to ordain women with the sexual abuse of children.
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