Cardinal admits Church files on pedophile priests ‘destroyed’By The Manila TimesVATICAN CITY: A top Catholic cardinal admitted Saturday that Church files on priests who sexually abused children were destroyed or never even drawn up, a move which allowed pedophiles to prey on others. “Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed, or not even created,” German Cardinal Reinhard Marx said in a speech to a landmark Vatican summit on tackling pedophilia in the clergy. These are all events that sharply contradict what the Church should stand for,” Marx said. The cardinal said it was essential that victims felt “that they can trust the system”. “There are no alternatives to traceability and transparency,” he insisted, adding that attempts to cover-up scandals risked seriously undermining the Catholic Church’s credibility.

Source: Manila Times February 23, 2019 10:07 UTC