Photo: Archdiocese of Prague
Victims of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in Czechia have written a petition calling for the resignation of the head of the church in the country, Prague Archbishop Jan Graubner. They say he knew about priests, and specifically one – František Merta – who was abusing children, and failed to take appropriate action. I spoke with one of the petition’s writers, Ladislav Koubek, who himself is a survivor of abuse, about the initiative.
Just for our listeners who may not be aware of this petition, could you please explain it?
“We were inspired by the recent events in Hungary, where the president of the country stepped down because she pardoned a person who covered sexual abuse. In the Czech Republic, there is the case of Archbishop Jan Graubner, who did something even worse. He knew about a priest who was sexually abusing children. Archbishop Graubner moved him from various parishes, and at each one, the priest sexually abused altar boys.”
See the rest here.
Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt