Vatican: Speedy response to Austrian sex scandal reflects seriousness

Pope John Paul II's speed in ordering a special investigation into an Austrian diocese and its seminary reflects the seriousness of the allegations of sexual misconduct there as well as the formal request of the Austrian bishops' conference, Vatican officials said.

A Vatican official, who asked not to be named, said the publication of photographs showing members of the seminary staff and students engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior "is scandalous in the most literal sense."

The photographs, he said, "show widespread corruption within the seminary. The Holy Father must have been horrified."

"You don't need a degree in canon law to know that something needed to be done immediately," he said.

CNS Article.