By Angelo Amante and Philip Pullella

SAVONA, Italy (Reuters – Francesco Zanardi, a 12 year old documentarian, has documented sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests of Italy. This vacuum he claims is caused by refusals of the church to conduct a large investigation.

Zanardi, who is hoping for the opening of a much-anticipated reckoning with the Church’s leaders next week when they meet to elect an Italian president, hopes that it will bring about a long-overdue reckoning.

Zanardi (51), runs Rete l’Abuso, a network that collects digital information on clerical and sexual abuse from his home in Savona, northern Italy.

His time is spent looking for court documents and tracking down suspected abusers. He also talks to lawyers, who assist him in cases.

Zanardi explained that victims have a common theme. “A victim doesn’t want this to happen to another person because they only know what it is like inside. Even if they look happy and normal on the outside, it can be devastating,” Zanardi shared.

Zanardi, eight others and a consortium named “Beyond the Great Silence”, formed in February and used the hashtag #ItalyChurchToo as a platform to pressure the Church of Italy to conduct an impartial investigation.

Because bishops disagree on the best way to conduct a full-scale investigation, whether it should be done internally with existing resources, such as anti-abuse committees from diocesan churches, or outside, which could include academics and lawyers.

It is not clear whether they should limit it to recent history or extend back several decades.

The Italian bishops conference spokesmen said that they will discuss the best way forward when they meet.

The global sexual abuse crisis has caused significant damage to the credibility of Roman Catholic Church and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars of settlements. Some dioceses even declared bankruptcy.

It is not the Church of Italy as a whole that has issued an apology in a broad and formal way for any abuse, but individual bishops have.

TROUBLED JOUVENILES

Victims’ groups claim that the Church of Italy has dealt with abuse for many decades like all other national churches. It shut down predator priests in every parish and put faith in psychotherapy. Discrediting victims is one way it used its power to silence them.

One case was about twenty years old when a bishop sent the Vatican a document and letter about Nello Giraudo. This priest, at that time, was accused in one instance of sexually abusing adolescents in both a camp or a home for troubled minors. His lawyer and he have refuted all allegations against him.

The bishop wrote the letter to Reuters, along with correspondence from court records, that he was going to do everything possible “as much” as possible so the priest wouldn’t have contact with kids and teens.

Two months later, Giraudo was appointed by the bishop to head a new parish. His duties included visiting sick people, teaching adults about religion, and saying Mass. The assignment letter did not mention that he would be away from the children.

An internal memo by the diocesan at that time stated there were suspicions regarding Giraudo back further than 20 years.

Psychological therapy was provided to the priest. He also revealed in another letter that he confided his “paedophilic tendencies” to an associate. He was still not released despite all his warnings.

After leaving the priesthood, a judge gave him a suspended sentence of one year for violating 2005 camp rules by molesting a 17-yearold boy.

Giraudo did not agree to meet a reporter from Reuters who approached Giraudo at his Savona residence to discuss the charges against him.

Zanardi claimed that he was sexually abused at the age of 12 by Giraudo and then fell into years depression and drug abuse.

BEST (NYSE: ) INTENTIONS

Zanardi, a victim, says there are many cases in which the Church failed to respond, failed to cover up, or did too little to stop abuses being repeated.

A full investigation, they say, would serve as an act to purify the Church in Italy which has historically had great power over people and was seen untouchable.

Father Hans Zollner (German), heads the section of safeguarding against sexual abuse at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University. He has been urging the Italian Catholic Church for many years to accept an independent report.

Zollner stated that even though we can make the best of intentions, nobody will believe what we do in-house.

An internal investigation is supported by those who claim the Church has the resources. They point out that 62% of Italy’s 226 diocesan have established “listening centers” for victims to register their complaints regarding abuses, both past and present.

Five days of closed-door voting will be held by the bishops in Rome for their three presidential candidates. They then propose one to Pope Francis.

Francis expressed his shame over the incapacity of the global Catholic Church to handle sexual abuse cases, and called for a safe home for all.

He requested an audit last month to evaluate how Catholic churches across the country were protecting children from clergy sexual abuse.

Pope Francis in 2019 issued a directive directing all dioceses around the globe to create “public, stable, and easily accessible” systems for reporting sexual abuse.

Some countries such as the United States have had procedures in place long before this directive. However, others are still slow to adopt.

Zanardi claims he doesn’t care about who is elected as president of the bishops conference, “as long he does minimum work abroad”.

(Philip Pullella reported in Rome. Writer Philip Pullella. Editing Alison Williams.