Catholic church in Italy under fire to bring pedophile priests to justice
Max Civili
Press TV, Rome
Two kids who were victims of sexual abuse by a priest, are among four civil plaintiffs who have joined proceedings against Father Giovanni Desio, a clergyman of 53 years of age.
The former parish priest of a village in the Emilia Romagna region, was arrested in April last year. He is facing charges of having sex with four minors under his care.
A children's protection association and the local diocese have also been admitted among the civil plaintiffs after a pre-trial hearing held in the city of Ravenna early this week.
Recently the church has come under increasing attack for not doing enough to prevent sexual abuse by clergymen. In February victims of sexually abusive priests from across the Americas joined forces issuing a letter addressed to Pope Francis saying that "words are not enough" and urging the Argentine pontiff to allow civilian justice to punish pedophiles and those who covered up their crimes. Last week over a thousand lay faithful from Chile asked Pope Francis to rescind the appointment of a bishop accused of covering up a prominent priest sanctioned by the Vatican in 2011 for sexually abusing minors.
Last year the United Nations stated that the Church violated the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Associations representing survivors of sexual abuse by priests are saying that Pope Francis should follow the recommendations of the UN which include being transparent about the sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, bishops and cardinals.
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