He was addressing thousands of priests who had gathered at the
Vatican for a three-day conference to mark the end of the "Year of the
Priest."
"So it happened that, in this very year of joy for the
sacrament of the priesthood, the sins of priests came to light --
particularly the abuse of the little ones, in which the priesthood,
whose task is to manifest God's concern for our good, turns into its
very opposite," the pope said.
Pope Benedict XVI said the church
must "insistently beg forgiveness from God" and from victims for the
sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests. He also said priests must be
more thoroughly vetted before joining the ministry.
"In
admitting men to priestly ministry and in their formation, we will do
everything we can to weigh the authenticity of their vocation and make
every effort to accompany priests along their journey, so that the Lord
will protect them and watch over them in troubled situations and amid
life's dangers," the pope said in his homily.
Some victims of
sexual abuse said the pope's words weren't enough.
"Forgiveness
comes after, not during, a crisis," said Barbara Blaine, president of
the U.S.-based Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP),
"Right now, kids are being assaulted by priests and bishops are
concealing the crimes. And the pope continues taking no action to stop
this."
She said the pope still ignores the main problem, "the
ongoing recklessness, deceit, and callousness of bishops who, even now,
protect predators instead of children."
The pope's promise to "do
everything possible" is a vague pledge that won't change the behavior
of abusive priests, Blaine said.
She called for independent
investigations into the extent of cover-ups wherever the abuse occurred,
and criminal prosecution of abusive priests and their colleagues and
supervisors.
Thousands of people have come forward in the United
States, Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria and the pope's native Germany,
saying they were abused as children by Catholic clergy.
The
crisis has particularly shocked deeply Catholic Ireland, where three
government-backed investigations have uncovered physical and sexual
abuse stretching back decades.
The pope referred to "currents
which lead the flock astray" in his homily Friday.
"Today, we can
see that it has nothing to do with love when conduct unworthy of the
priestly life is tolerated," he said.
Critics charge that the
Vatican systematically covered up abuse around the world by shuffling
abusive priests from one parish to another or quietly pushing them to
retire.
The pope has met with victims in the United States and in
Malta, and vowed that the church will seek justice for the victims.
But some victims say justice is not enough, and that the priesthood
must be reformed.
Tuesday, activists campaigned for the Catholic
Church to ordain women. They argued that women in the priesthood could
have helped lessen the impact of the child abuse scandal sweeping the
church.
"We believe that if women had a say in
the church, if there was more accountability and more transparency, that
the men would have been held more accountable," said Erin Saiz Hanna,
executive director of the U.S.-based Women's Ordination Conference.
Comments (0)
Tell friend
Print
