Pope Benedict meets with victims of clerical sexual abuse [Allen]

[Catholic_Opinion]

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Washington, D.C.
In an unexpected and essentially unprecedented move, Pope Benedict XVI met quietly with five victims of clerical sexual abuse this afternoon at the Vatican’s embassy to the United States, located in Washington, D.C.
Prior to this afternoon, no pope had ever met with victims of sexual abuse by priests. That omission has been oft-cited by critics of the church’s response to the crisis as an indication that Rome and the papacy are out of touch with American realities, or in denial about the magnitude of the problem.
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[Tonks40]

I believe this is what the victims of this scandal have been looking for.

 

[FightingFat]

This is exactly what we should expect from this courageous Pope! Far from ducking the issue, he’s met it head on! Bravo!

 

[rlg94086]

From the article…

Whether today’s meeting, or Benedict’s repeated public references to the crisis, will ultimately satisfy victims remains to be seen.

My prediction…no.

It may satisfy some of the victims, and I pray that it does bring them peace. I just personally feel that some of the victim groups have morphed into very anti-Church associations. I understand their pain, and I understand how their experiences could push them in that direction, but it saddens me.

 

[Harmony1988]

This is how it’s meant to be. I remember reading earlier that some abused were criticizing him for not turning up and talking to them. I realized Benedict didn’t want to make headlines that he is doing such a great thing, he probably felt if he made it more well known people would think it was rehearsed and he is pulling a publicity stunt.

Then they would not be criticizing him for not visiting the abused but ‘making headlines’ -‘rehearsed’ - ‘unfelt’

bla bla bla

 

[adamsapple]

This is clearly a case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
He did the right thing, of course. But I am still saddened that his only visit the U.S. as Pope will be dominated by the scandal. Although it was inevitable, I hope his message to American Catholics and to America in general is not buried under the burden of the scandal. **** happens and it happens all the time, even to the Catholic Church. At least he has taken the issue head on, not hiding in the rafters hoping that it will go away.
A coward he is not!!!

 

[mozier]

When this came on the news last night, I literally got on my knees and cried, thanking God above that the pope did exactly the right thing here. He has now shown that he does care, and hopefully with this it can mark a true beginning of healing in the sex abuse scandal.

Then I checked out the media, and they could not believe it! They were practically stammering over themselves, shocked that the pope had done such an “unprecedented” thing! Even Anderson Cooper didn’t really know what to say. I can only imagine what Bill Maher will say. I am just so happy he did do this, for if he did not then the media would have been sneering about how the pope was just words but no action during his visit. Some will still say it, maybe, but their words won’t have much bite to them.

Finally, it was interesting that last night Chris Matthews and Wolf Blitzer were talking, and both of them said that when they were in the presence of the pope, they found themselves completely befuddled and didn’t know what to say! They were overwhelmed by this feeling of awe, being in the pope’s presence that they became speechless. There is just something about being in a pope’s presence that does that to you. That would explain also why even Nancy Pelosi got on her knees and kissed the pope’s ring! Imagine that.

 

[Tonks40]

When this came on the news last night, I literally got on my knees and cried, thanking God above that the pope did exactly the right thing here. He has now shown that he does care, and hopefully with this it can mark a true beginning of healing in the sex abuse scandal.

Then I checked out the media, and they could not believe it! They were practically stammering over themselves, shocked that the pope had done such an “unprecedented” thing! Even Anderson Cooper didn’t really know what to say. I can only imagine what Bill Maher will say. I am just so happy he did do this, for if he did not then the media would have been sneering about how the pope was just words but no action during his visit. Some will still say it, maybe, but their words won’t have much bite to them.

Finally, it was interesting that last night Chris Matthews and Wolf Blitzer were talking, and both of them said that when they were in the presence of the pope, they found themselves completely befuddled and didn’t know what to say! They were overwhelmed by this feeling of awe, being in the pope’s presence that they became speechless. There is just something about being in a pope’s presence that does that to you. That would explain also why even Nancy Pelosi got on her knees and kissed the pope’s ring! Imagine that.

Yes, this definitely is a reason to be thankful for having Pope Benedict XVI at this time here.

Perhaps the secular media’s reaction indicates that their perception of the Church as being far removed from real life has been refuted. It surprises them…but it doesn’t surprise us at all!

 

[didymus]

tinyurl.com/3nf5uk

Pope meets with U.S. victims of sexual abuse

WASHINGTON: Pope Benedict XVI came face to face Thursday with a scandal that has left lasting wounds on the American church, holding an unannounced meeting with several victims of sexual abuse by priests in the Boston area.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, who organized the meeting and attended, gave the pope a notebook listing some 1,000 boys and girls who had been abused in the Boston Archdiocese alone going back several decades, a Vatican official said.

The pope had requested the meeting, said the official, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, which took place at the papal nuncio’s residence. The handful of victims are roughly in middle age. The pope prayed and spoke personally with each of them, in a meeting that lasted about 25 minutes. Some wept, Father Lombardi said.

The meeting made clear that for all the messages that Benedict wished to send during his five-day trip to the United States, his first as pope, the one concerning priestly abuse was central. He raised the issue first with reporters on his trip from Rome on Tuesday, and did so for a third time Thursday morning in a huge open Mass at Nationals Park before nearly 50,000 people, his first major encounter with the country’s diverse church.