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Pope meets US priests' sex abuse victims
Friday, 18 April, 2008
Pope Benedict celebrates Mass at a US ballpark (Getty)
Pope Benedict XVI has met a group of people who were sexually abused by priests, a conciliatory measure aimed at putting an end to a long-running abuse scandal in the US Catholic church.
The Vatican said the pontiff prayed with the victims, listened to their stories and "offered them words of encouragement and hope".
In Pictures: Pope Benedict XVI's US visit
"The Holy Father met in the chapel at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington DC with a small group of persons who were sexually abused by members of the clergy," it said in a statement.
"His Holiness assured them of his prayers for their intentions, for their families and for all victims of sexual abuse."
The US Catholic Church was plunged into its worst crisis ever in 2002 when the then archbishop of Boston admitted to have protected a priest who had sexually abused young members of his church.
'Deeply ashamed'
His admission opened a floodgate of thousands of similar abuse cases around the country dating back decades.
The abuse scandal has dominated a large part of the pope's visit to America, and on the flight from Rome to Washington on Tuesday, Benedict said the sex scandal had made him feel "deeply ashamed."
"No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse," he told some 48,000 people who gathered for a papal Mass in the new Washington Nationals ballpark.
The usual cheers of baseball fans were replaced by a deafening wall of sound from the crowds who had flocked into the stadium from dawn, turning it into a cathedral for a day.
'Tragic situation'
Four choirs - led by tenor Placido Domingo - then began singing a Hallelujah chorus in unison, as the pope entered the stadium on foot and proceeded to the altar.
Fourteen cardinals, 250 bishops and 1,300 priests joined the German pope to deliver communion to the gigantic crowd.
The faithful heard Benedict appeal for a new spirit of evangelism to respond to America's "increasingly secular and materialistic culture."
But the mood turned sombre as Benedict urged US Catholics to renew their faith and condemned the "tragic" sexual abuse of children by priests which has rocked the church.
Benedict insisted, though, that the church was dealing "honestly and fairly with this tragic situation and to
ensure that children... can grow up in a safe environment."
Source: SBS staff and agencies
The Vatican said the pontiff prayed with the victims, listened to their stories and "offered them words of encouragement and hope".
In Pictures: Pope Benedict XVI's US visit
"The Holy Father met in the chapel at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington DC with a small group of persons who were sexually abused by members of the clergy," it said in a statement.
"His Holiness assured them of his prayers for their intentions, for their families and for all victims of sexual abuse."
The US Catholic Church was plunged into its worst crisis ever in 2002 when the then archbishop of Boston admitted to have protected a priest who had sexually abused young members of his church.
'Deeply ashamed'
His admission opened a floodgate of thousands of similar abuse cases around the country dating back decades.
The abuse scandal has dominated a large part of the pope's visit to America, and on the flight from Rome to Washington on Tuesday, Benedict said the sex scandal had made him feel "deeply ashamed."
"No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse," he told some 48,000 people who gathered for a papal Mass in the new Washington Nationals ballpark.
The usual cheers of baseball fans were replaced by a deafening wall of sound from the crowds who had flocked into the stadium from dawn, turning it into a cathedral for a day.
'Tragic situation'
Four choirs - led by tenor Placido Domingo - then began singing a Hallelujah chorus in unison, as the pope entered the stadium on foot and proceeded to the altar.
Fourteen cardinals, 250 bishops and 1,300 priests joined the German pope to deliver communion to the gigantic crowd.
The faithful heard Benedict appeal for a new spirit of evangelism to respond to America's "increasingly secular and materialistic culture."
But the mood turned sombre as Benedict urged US Catholics to renew their faith and condemned the "tragic" sexual abuse of children by priests which has rocked the church.
Benedict insisted, though, that the church was dealing "honestly and fairly with this tragic situation and to
ensure that children... can grow up in a safe environment."
Source: SBS staff and agencies
