The prayer of the prey

Video of open letter from abuse victims to Pope Francis

During his recent visit to Belgium, a country whose religious, social and political life has been deeply influenced by Catholicism, Pope Francis was heavily criticized by the King of Belgium and his Prime Minister for his mishandling of the abhorrent legacy of clergy sexual abuse . and institutional cover-up. This is not the first time Belgians have been angry at the Vatican for the way church officials covered up abuse and retaliated against those who reported it.

In 1988, a European Mother Superior sent a complaint to the Vatican reporting that the local African bishop wanted her to make her nuns available to his priests for sex to reduce their chances of contracting HIV and AIDS from prostitutes. die. Rather than discipline the bishop and his promiscuous priests, the Vatican sent the complaint back to the bishop, who then deported the Mother Superior. It was later reported that one of the 29 nuns who became pregnant was forced to have an abortion by the priest who raped her. When the nun died during the abortion procedure, it was the rapist priest who conducted her funeral.

When confidential reports came to light revealing numerous cases of sexual abuse of nuns by priests and the failure of church leaders to discipline the clergy, the European Parliament issued a formal punishment to the Vatican in April 2001, stating “ all sexual violations against women” were condemned. , especially against Catholic nuns.” In addition to demanding that “the perpetrators of the crimes be arrested and handed over to justice,” Parliament also requested that the Vatican “seriously investigate any indication of sexual abuse committed at the heart of its organizations… (and) to the women at their positions in the religious hierarchy who were relieved of their responsibilities because they brought these abuses to the attention of their superiors.”

Unfortunately, none of the bishops or priests responsible for the rapes and abortions of nuns are known to have been punished. Following the 2018 Summer of Shame, when Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò called on Pope Francis to resign after covering up the predator Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, an investigation by the Associated Press (AP) reported how nuns in more than 20 countries on four continents expressed the suffering they have endured at the hands of priests, including rape, forced abortion, emotional abuse and labor exploitation.

A former German nun, Doris Wagner, who was repeatedly raped by a priest in the Vatican, said she almost committed suicide one day while sitting high on a balcony in the Papal Palace, directly opposite the Pope. When nuns like Doris Wagner expose sexual abuse and cover-ups in the church, their abusers often go unpunished while suffering another form of abuse by being silenced or expelled from the convent.

It is in this historical context that Pope Francis reportedly “received a listening ear from the Belgian king and abused victims due to scandals and lack of response.” Although many American mainstream media sources reported that Belgian abuse survivors wrote an open letter to Francis, many of those same sources never responded to a request from two American survivors to report on their open letter video to the Pope, which they titled: “The Prey’s Prayer.”

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) reported how just weeks earlier, during a visit to Oceania, Pope Francis failed to respond to an open letter requesting an apology for the sexual abuse of children by his clergy and his bishops and to keep the congregation together. leaders responsible for enabling that abuse.

Due to the pope’s historic failure to discipline predatory clergy and cover up abuse dating back to his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, many advocates for sexual abuse victims are questioning whether the pope, despite promises he made in Belgium will actually respond to the open letter video sent to it by the two American victims of abuse, Lisa Roers and Rachel Mastrogiacomo.

Roers, who claims she was ritually abused in Nebraska when she was 9-11 years old, requested a thorough investigation of her case and disciplinary action from Omaha Archbishop George Lucas, both for engaging in sexual misconduct as for covering up abuses they and others have suffered. Mastrogiacomo, who was also a victim of satanic ritual abuse as a vulnerable adult and is aware that Pope Francis has not laicized or excommunicated some 150 bishops credibly accused of abusing minors and vulnerable adults, wrote : “The Catholic Church has a Holy Father who will restore the moral credibility of the Church by ‘cleansing the Temple’ of those who engage in satanic ritual abuse and all forms of spiritual sexual predation.”

The open letter video can be viewed on YouTube at: “The Prayer of the Prey.”

The text of the letters can be read at: Abuse Survivors Open Letters to Pope Francis.

Gene Thomas Gomulka is an advocate for victims of sexual abuse, investigative journalist and screenwriter. A former Navy Captain/Chaplain (O6), seminary instructor and Diocesan Respect Life Director, Gomulka was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown and later a Prelate of Honor (Monsignor) by John Paul II. Follow Gene Gomulka on YouTube or email him [email protected].

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