Christophe Pierre, the Vatican's nuncio or diplomatic representative in Mexico, made it clear that Pope Benny XVI will not meet with any of the victims, ranging at least in the tens of thousands, from priest abuse when he visits Mexico this weekend.
Why on earth not? This is not simply a case of apologizing on behalf of the far too many priests who turned into child rapists and molesters, which has happened so many places, but which in Mexico is given the added touch that the Vatican knew for more than forty years about the abuses of one affiliated organization, the Legionaries of Christ, where desperate stories of child abuse by particularly its founder Marcial Maciel surfaced shortly after its founding - abuses that the Vatican, we now know, was aware of for decades, but didn't do anything with until the public pressure became to large in the 2000s.
Yet don't expect any apology when the pope visits Mexico. After all, he did force Marcial to retire, lest we forget, to life of "repentance and self reflection."
Perhaps an apology isn't in order - I would trade a papal apology for an arrest warrant of multiple members of the Vatican leadership any day.
