OVO

Victor L. Simpson: Pope says he is 'deeply ashamed' of clergy abuse scandal [LINK-ZUM]

Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday he was "deeply ashamed" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church and will work to keep pedophiles out of the priesthood, addressing the toughest issue facing the American church as he began his first papal trip to the United States. Benedict spoke in English on a special Alitalia flight from Rome to Washington, answering questions submitted by reporters in advance.

"It is a great suffering for the Church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen," Benedict said. "It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission ... to these children. I am deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future," the pope said.

Benedict pledged that pedophiles would not be priests in the Catholic Church. "We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry," Benedict said. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound."

[Article continues at link. As recently as 2001, Pope Benedict (then Cardinal Ratzinger) said that the Crimine Solicitaciones was still in effect. What is the Crimine Solicitaciones? It is a document ordered by Pope John XXIII in 1961 and sent to every Bishop in the Roman Catholic Church. On direct orders of the Pope, clergy who abused children were to be moved to a new parish and the crime was to be kept secret. Should any victim speak out against clergy, they were to be threatened with excommunication. And when victims have spoken out against clergy, clergy have been excused from prosecution due to diplomatic immunity (as representatives of the Vatican Holy See, a sovereign nation). If you want to know why abusive clergy were protected from prosecution for decades, you have no further to look. Pope Benedict has the means to start healing this wound. Healing won't come only through blaming the individual abusive clergy, as damnable as they are. Healing will come through admitting that The Most Holy Father has actively been sheltering abusive clergy from prosecution. - Trevor Blake]

Labels: christianity, theocracy

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