Priest abuse survivor reacts to latest crisis

Priest abuse survivor reacts to latest crisis
Mar 29, 2010 Recommend
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(NECN: Jim Braude) - Gary Bergeron understands the sexual abuse crisis surfacing in Europe over clergy abuse. He lived it. Bergeron is a clergy abuse survivor from the Greater Boston area.

He is the author of "Don't Call Me A Victim, Faith, Hope & Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church."
Bergeron says he is again surprised at how reticent the Vatican is to acknowledge a problem that is right in front of it."For some reason, the Catholic Church never seems to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity," Bergeron said.

But Bergeron says that as this abuse crisis grows in Europe, he doesn't want the Pope to step down for the first time in more than 500 years.

He says that the removal of Bernard Cardinal Law from the Boston Archdiocese may have been such a shock wave that it actually slowed reforms here. And he thinks the same could happen in the current case.

"My concern is that it will send a shock wave immediately, but then who is going to step in to replace him?" Bergeron notes, saying that it's difficult to find anyone at the senior level of the Church who lived through the era of abuse that doesn't have some direct or indirect connection to the crisis.

Tags: Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI, Gary Bergeron, abuse crisis