Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Posted on 04/20/2008 3:52:10 PM PDT by NYer
NEW YORK CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI will always have his detractors, but even his toughest critics will admit that this past week the aging pontiff brought the need to heal the clergy sex abuse crisis high up onto his papal platform.
Whether one believes that reform is coming or that Benedict’s speeches are merely words on a page, the pontiff has confronted the thorny issue in ways that defied expectations.
Before the Holy Father set foot on American soil, he told reporters aboard the papal airplane that pedophile priests left him “deeply ashamed.” During his homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral yesterday, he lamented the “damage” and “suffering” caused.
“I join you in praying this will be a time of purification,” he told bishops from across the country.
And Benedict’s meeting Thursday in Washington, D.C., with Bernie McDaid, Olan Horne and Faith Johnston and two others - Massachusetts adults whose childhoods were stolen by pedophile priests - stunned even close papal observers and proved to be healing for those three victims, long hardened by the church’s betrayal.
Benedict’s speeches in New York have touched on universal themes of healing and hope - two things the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests says are still lacking among clergy abuse victims. SNAP has pressured Benedict at every turn and for good reason. American bishops who knowingly shuffled molester priests from parish to parish are still serving the papacy.
Many victims like Betty McCabe, a Canton, Conn., woman who waited until her 50s before she faced what happened to her as an 11-year-old, lost their childhoods forever.
“It’s been absolutely devastating,” McCabe said as she stood on a sidewalk Friday holding a photo of “Danny,” a priest abuse victim.
She’s holding judgment on Benedict’s clergy abuse outreach for now, she said.
“It’s a good first step, but I want to see it put into action,” she said.
Action, this pope has taken.
He is no John Paul. Never will be.
IMHO, BXVI is a lot better.
But be that as it may, every Pope is probably elected for some reason. The bad ones, perhaps to encourage and invigorate the good ones; the good ones with faults, perhaps to encourage the even better ones.
Note that the person interviewed is not satisfied.
I'm afraid some people would not be satisfied if the Pope immolated himself on national TV.
Sadly, he’s preaching to the choir, mostly.
John Paul II was no Benedict XVI.
JP II was the right man for his time. Benedict's strengths are well suited for the current needs of the Church.
Glorious - A+ to the Church in the USA.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.