Victims say criminal charges against pope are not a stunt

VATICAN CITY (RNS) A campaign to hold the pope responsible for "crimes
against humanity" is not a publicity stunt, sex abuse victims say, even
as experts doubt it will have much success at the International Criminal
Court.

In a dramatic and unprecedented move, abuse victims filed a
complaint that seeks to hold Pope Benedict XVI and others responsible
for the "systematic and widespread concealing of rape and child sex
crimes throughout the world."

Lawyers representing the Survivors Network of those Abused by
Priests (SNAP) filed the 84-page complaint at the ICC in The Hague, the
Netherlands, on Tuesday (Sept. 13).