Catholics crisis
Just a few months after Pope Benedict XIV made public overtures to disaffected Church of England clergy, it seems Catholics globally are cooling towards him.
According to an Associated Press report published on MSNBC, persistent revelations of systematic whitewashing to cover up cases of suspected child abuse has led to many Catholics across the world losing faith in their religion.
British protesters have called for the pope to resign, amid allegations that he knew about but covered up cases of child abuse in Germany and the US. Some priests have even stopped offering prayers for Pope Benedict in their masses.
Many experts believe the Catholic Church is at a crunch point in its history. Paul Collins, Australian church historian and former priest, was quoted as saying: ‘People are outraged. They’re furious with the complete failure of the church’s leadership and their view would be that we are led by incompetent people’.
The mounting furore comes as plans are under way for the pope’s visit to the UK this September.
