The group's president, Paolo Patane, said Bertone had "confirmed the cynicism, lack of scruples and cruelty of the very same Catholic hierarchy which for years covered up sex crimes perpetrated on thousands of innocent children." Franco Grillini, a gay rights activist and former MP, said: "Because they have their own problems with the abuse crisis and don't know how to handle it, they are trying to pass their 'cross' from their shoulders onto ours." The French government said the cardinal's inflammatory claim tried to make an "unacceptable linkage that we condemn".