Pope’s visit to the US
Pardon me for being cynical but first there was this:
Pope Benedict XVI has begun his first papal visit to
the United States by speaking out against the sexual abuse scandals
that have rocked the US church in recent years. He told journalists
on the flight from Rome he was “deeply ashamed” of the scandals, and
he vowed that paedophiles would not be allowed to continue as
priests or to be ordained into the Roman Catholic priesthood. [ENI-08-0309]
1. At this point he was not scheduled to meet with any abuse victims, but adverse media publicity changed that later.
2. I’ll be very interested to watch and see if all the 4% of US RCC priests identified by the church itself as abusers get sacked. I’d lay bets on it not happening.
And then there was this:
Pope Benedict XVI has met privately and prayed with several survivors of sexual abuse by clergy during his visit to the United States, in a move that is believed to be the first time a pontiff has met with abuse survivors. The unannounced meeting on 17 April, reportedly at Benedict’s request, was held at a chapel at the papal nuncio’s residence in Washington. [ENI-08-0316]
1. If he met with (and prayed with) abuse survivors in a chapel, then he didn’t meet with the most damaged ones. Because the most damaged ones a) have lost their faith and wouldn’t pray, b) wouldn’t go into a chapel, and c) probably wouldn’t want prayer in a chapel to be the focus of the meeting.
2. Notice that in spite of clergy abuse having been on the RCC radar since at least 1985, when an internal report told them that it was a public relations problem just waiting to explode (not to mntion years of individual victims pleading to meet with both this and the previous pope), in 23 years this is the first time a pope has bothered to put abuse victims into his schedule. And he only did it at the last minute due to media pressure.
And finally there was this:
Pope Benedict XVI, head of the worldwide Roman
Catholic Church, capped a six-day visit to the United States, his
first as pontiff, with a public Mass at New York’s Yankee Stadium in
which he declared the need for US Catholics to be obedient to church
authority. While the 15-20 April visit is likely to be remembered for
the Pope’s public declarations of shame about the sexual abuse
scandals that rocked the Catholic Church in the United States, the
trip also provided an opportunity for Benedict to meet a range of US
Christian leaders. [ENI-08-0322]
“Okay, you abuse victims (and everyone else) – we may have abused you in the past, and manipulated and lied to you, and fobbed you off and refused to deal appropriately with your pain and suffering – not to mention refusing to deal with the problem priests in our ranks – but you’ve still gotta do what you’re told by the church.”
I’d like to know how any clergy abuse victim is supposed to have faith that the situation is going to get any better, given that the church still asserts control and moral authority – the two things that enable abuse to happen and be covered up over and over.