The clergy abuse scandal has truly reached the top. Reports today indicate that the Vatican did not defrock a priest who molested as many as 200 deaf boys. The person in charge of the Curia office that refused—despite multiple appeals from the bishop of the diocese—to defrock the priest was then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. This grievous equivocation, this conscious choice to secretly excuse a priest pedophile, has led to even more sorrow in the Church. Church officials, at the highest levels of the administrative structure, placed a higher value on the temporary image of institution than on the ongoing safety of innocent children.

Voice of the Faithful repeats the call we made last week for transparency and accountability. Only then can we begin to heal.

VOTF calls upon every Catholic prelate, wherever he is and whatever his rank, including Pope Benedict himself, who has participated in this conspiracy of silence to hold himself accountable. We invite all Catholics—cleric, religious, and lay—to join us in the effort to rebuild our beloved Church.