Sex crimes and the Vatican

"Sex crimes and the Vatican" was broadcasted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on 2006-OCT-01. 1 They have placed the complete transcript online. 2

1. "Sex crimes and the Vatican" Panorama, BBC One, 2006-SEP-29, at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

2. Transcript of the program is at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

"Sex Crimes and the Vatican" was filmed by Colm O'Gorman, who was raped by a Catholic priest in the diocese of Ferns in County Wexford in Ireland when he was 14 years old. Father Seán Fortune was charged with 66 counts of sexual, indecent assault and another serious sexual offence relating to eight boys but he committed suicide on the eve of his trial. Colm started an investigation with the BBC in March 2002 which led to the resignation of Dr Brendan Comiskey, the bishop leading the Ferns Diocese. Colm then pushed for a government inquiry which led to the Ferns Report.

The Fern Report was the first to link church actions to a secret 1962 Vatican document called "Crimen Sollicitationis."

Crimen sollicitationis (Latin for "the crime of soliciting") was a confidential letter sent in 1962 by Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani , Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, to "all Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops and other Local Ordinaries, including those of Eastern Rite".
It laid down rules for procedures to be taken against clerics (priests or bishops) accused of having used the sacrament of Penance to make sexual advances to penitents.

Crimen Sollicitationis was enforced for 20 years by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became the Pope Benedict XVI.

On May 18, 2001, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (at that time prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) sent a letter to all Catholic Bishops reminding them of the strict penalties facing those who revealed confidential details concerning enquiries into allegations against priests of certain grave ecclesiastical crimes, including sexual abuse, reserved to the jurisdiction of the CDF.

How do one believe in a criminal and the criminal institution he lead?