Posted on 04/18/2008 8:50:14 AM PDT by Kaslin
For 25 remarkable minutes, the shepherd of the world's 1 billion Catholics met with a handful of victims in the worst scandal to ever tarnish the U.S. church.
One man, abused as an altar boy, said he placed his hand over Pope Benedict XVI's heart as he pleaded with him to fix the problem of sexual abuse of minors.
The pontiff apologized to his guests for not being perfectly fluent in English, and "for everything," according to another victim.
Plans for the secret meeting were kept quiet. But two Boston-area victims of abuse shared details of the meeting in interviews late Thursday with The Associated Press.
Though Benedict had been expected to address clergy sexual abuse in his visit to the U.S., the volume and frankness of his remarks over the first half of his six-day pilgrimage have been startling.
Benedict expressed shame and a determination to do better in a talk with U.S. bishops on the plane ride over, and again Thursday at a giant open-air Mass.
The meeting that took place Thursday afternoon between a Mass at Nationals Park and an address to Catholic educators had long been in the works, but wasn't on the pope's official schedule.
Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston had high hopes Benedict would accept his invitation to visit his archdiocese to mark its 200th anniversary. When that didn't work out, O'Malley kept in touch with Archbishop Pietro Sambi, who as papal nuncio represents the Vatican in the U.S., about bringing Benedict and victims together during the trip, said the Rev. John Connolly, a special assistant to O'Malley.
"The desire to do this was definitely from the Holy Father," Connolly said.
The pope ultimately asked O'Malley to invite a small group of victims who were "both open to meeting him and would derive a spiritual benefit," Connolly said.
He found two good candidates in Bernie McDaid and Olan Horne, who were molested by priests when they were boys growing up in the Boston area.
Both men were angry at the church, but welcomed the opportunity to meet with church officials as the crisis mushroomed. The issue has dominated American Catholic life for much of this decade, starting in 2002 in Boston.
McDaid attended a meeting in which then-Boston Archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law asked for forgiveness, and traveled to Rome to meet with church officials. In 2006, Horne spoke of hope and love as O'Malley began a series of masses and services meant to bind up wounds.
The two men got to know each other; eventually their stories were portrayed in a 2005 Showtime film, "Our Fathers."
About three weeks ago over dinner, Boston church officials asked McDaid whether he would meet with Benedict if an anticipated meeting with victims came together.
"I said, 'Of course,'" McDaid said.
On Thursday morning, McDaid did something he never does. He went to Mass.
He went to accompany his mother. But when McDaid heard Benedict apologize for the sex abuse crisis, "It took me totally by surprise. It was so heartfelt and emotional, I cried."
Afterward, he found himself in a car with a police escort, barreling through Washington red lights to the Vatican residence on Embassy Row, where Benedict was staying.
There, he joined a handful of other victims in pews in the nunciature's private chapel.
When Benedict arrived, he prayed and blessed the group, which included O'Malley and Sambi.
Horne said Benedict apologized for his English, but then assured them that he had the words he wanted to express.
"He stood there feet from us, and you could tell he was heavy, heavy with responsibility," Horne said. "He looked at us deeply. You could see he searched for words, that he was thinking."
Each victim was invited to spend a few minutes talking with Benedict. McDaid went first.
He shook the pope's hand and told him that as an altar boy he had been abused by a priest in the sacristy of his parish.
"I said, 'Holy Father, you need to know you have a cancer in your flock and I hope you will do something for this problem; you have to fix this,'" McDaid said.
McDaid said that at that moment, he put his hand on the 81-year-old pontiff's heart.
"He looked down at the floor and back at me, like, 'I know what you mean,' McDaid said. "He took it in emotionally. We looked eye to eye."
Horne went second. Like McDaid, Horne hadn't been to Mass in many years. None of his children have received the sacraments that define Catholic identity.
He too had seized the opportunity to meet Benedict, but was not convinced it would happen.
"Till I saw his little red shoes," Horne said, "I knew it could go sideways."
Horne said he felt a heavy responsibility to other victims, but knew he could only speak for himself.
"There was an opportunity for an unscripted, unfiltered opportunity face to face," he said.
When he headed the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Benedict reviewed the files containing horrific charges against priests in the United States. But Horne said what struck him was Benedict's sincerity, warmth and sense of understanding that reading reports cannot summon.
Horne told the pope it was time to move beyond anger and embrace hope.
"He thanked me for having the courage, and (said) that he was with us on this path. I asked him to embrace us. He said _ and I can't recall the exact words _ 'I think I have begun to.'"
"There was a sense we had begun the journey."
This makes it appear that the abuse only happens in the U.S. Certainly they don’t honestly think that the rest of the world is without the same type of problem, just undercover??
I love this Pope. I think he is a real “The Buck stops here” kind of leader. I hope he has many years of service to the Faithful.
A classy move, but empty. Purge the priesthood of homos, and then you’ll get somewhere.
I love my German Shepherd!
He has the potential to be the greatest ever. And he has shown great courage in the face of the Islamic threat to Christendom.
He should bring back the inquisition and send them to hunt down those pedophile bastards. I’d support the candle-heads!
I note the amount of time the network news shows devoted last night to this part of the pope’s trip—several minutes out of an entire nightly news broadcast of only half an hour—and not about the pope’s visit in its entirety, but only about this one issue.
I guess they will ignore the rest of what he says.
The torpor with which JPII responded to the crisis—and he knew about it a couple of decades before the Boston scandal broke wide open—is one major reason to resist the movement to acclaim him as “Great.” Another reason to resist is his miserable performance in governing the Church: Dozens of wacko, liberal, and corrupt bishops were appointed—men who had thick files of documented horrors BEFORE they were appointed. And only a handful of forced resignations, restricted to those bishops who were actually arrested or were making headlines. I find it offensive, and I think it is improper, for people to be throwing around the appellation “Great” for a man who has not been canonized. All three “Great” Popes are canonized saints.
If a man is truly chaste and celibate, how do you know what his orientation is and, if he is not doing anything, why would you care who is in not doing it with?
It's obvious from the tone of your post that you are not a Catholic and know very little about the Church. If you presume that Pope Benedict XVI is doing nothing regarding removal of deviant clergy you would be wrong. However, the Church has a very decentralized "command and control" structure so change will be slow.The church is NOT a democracy and is not swayed by popular opinion from either the right or the left. Neither is it a totalitarian organization with an omnipotent Pope. The Pope leads and educated, he does not command and dictate.
You can choose to be a Catholic of choose not to, but membership is predicated upon believing, following, and serving. If you choose not to participate your criticisms are wholly self serving. What ever your faith or affiliation, do you believe in redemption, forgiveness, and in hating the sin, but loving the sinner? If so, what would you have the Church both practice and preach?
Not all the molested were *boys*. The media plays that aspect up.
I guess you did not get Pope pledge that no more pedophiles can enter the Priesthood
Say it louder, say it often! I totally agree with you!! I was about to say something uncharitable about him, but instead, I'll just remind myself that we'll never really know just how sick he was, and for how long.
Perhaps I don't. But I have gotten about 15 replies on THIS thread from FReepers who told some real horror stories about open homosexual conduct at the highest levels. If true this simply must be purged, to a man. I love the Catholic Church, which is why I so want homos to be banned totally.
You will find that NOTHING will satisfy a certain group of people who prefer to have this matter in hand, as a bludgeon.
Are you Roman Catholic?
A lesson for all of us in even the smallest resentment in all of our lives, too. (I add this as I too need to remember how I can do this similarly in my day to day life in smaller ways.)
I am so done with the bludgeoning though. It is eventually just evil in action.
A lesson for all of us in even the smallest resentment in all of our lives, too. (I add this as I too need to remember how I can do this similarly in my day to day life in smaller ways.)
I am so done with the bludgeoning though. It is eventually just evil in action.
A lesson for all of us in even the smallest resentment in all of our lives, too. (I add this as I too need to remember how I can do this similarly in my day to day life in smaller ways.)
I am so done with the bludgeoning though. It is eventually just evil in action.
Sorry about the redundant postings. I had to run so hit the enter button a few too many times to ill effect.
Given the church shares your goal and you seem to have all of the answers, perhaps the Pope should turn to you for advice. What would you use for a litmus test and would you require something binding like an oath of chastity and celibacy before God? No, wait, I think they are already doing that? But I dying to hear your solutions.
How could he spend so many years in Catholic leadership positions without awareness of the situation? Did he take any action to correct the abuses within his authority then?
Yes, sarcasm. Just brilliant. Clearly an oath of celibacy is insufficient. As many others here have commented, this fag system has been in place for decades, with a lot more than a nod and a wink. Aggressive action is called for, and hopefully that is just what the Pope has in mind.
Any moron can point out the problem, I waiting for you to tell the Pope how to implement your purge. Since the problem appears to be in the past wouldn't you agree the Church must have done something.
Rant to someone else. I think I’ve had enough.
rant - transitive verb meaning to utter in a bombastic declamatory fashion. example: "Purge the priesthood of homos,"
That’s been happening for several years. The vast majority of abuse took place from the 60’s to the 80’s, corresponding to the changes wrought by so many in the ‘Spirit of Vatican II’, but which had absolutly nothing in common with those documents. This was also before John Paul II had begun the work straightening out the Seminaries that had formed the priests who committed the abuse.
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