Leonardo"s Notebook by Mattheus Mei

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

MSM is a buzz as Pope meets with Victims of Abuse

The Pope met privately with a group of abused from the Archdiocese of Boston MSM sources are saying. The five people gathered and met with the Pope for about an hour. According to NPR:
For some of the victims, it was a pastoral session with the Holy Father. For others, it was an opportunity to demand more accountability and action from the head of the Catholic Church, which has been criticized for its slow response to the clergy sexual-abuse scandal.
This after the Pope yesterday evening gave a speech to the US Bishops that was an admonishment of Truth about what it means to have Hope in Christ, which included references to how that hope is not exchanged when clergy abuse children but then applied it to a wider context.

According to ABC on the meeting

The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a papal spokesman, said that Benedict and Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley met with a small group of victims and offered them encouragement and hope.Lombardi said the pope told victims he would pray for them, their families and all victims of clergy sex abuse.
He called the crisis a cause of "deep shame," pledged to keep pedophiles out of the priesthood and decried the "enormous pain" that communities have suffered from such "gravely immoral behavior" by priest.

I hope and pray that this makes some headway with those affected persons and those who have become disaffected with the church, even as the largest abuse survivors network earlier released a preemptive response saying this is not enough.

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pope Benedict XVI the Super Star. Like it was just yesterday when he convinced his peers to let him be the Pope because his days are numbered. Well, that number is 20 some years. So, take your number. He won't kick the bucket anytime soon.

Anonymous said...

How on Earth does Pope Benedict have time to meet with victims of Catholic priest abuse? Shouldn't there be tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of these molestation victims? Are these victims the so-called "10%" of America that is gay? If so the Catholic Church owes us real Christians an apology!

Anonymous said...

Apology given. Now are you happy?
A bunch of !@#$% idiots. It's one thing to be the Pope and have all the glories, it's quite another to wait in line to pay him respect. He's the CEO, and you? The Catholic church is the oldest enterprise that's still around, and it's not only very lucrative, but also tax free. In fact, without them, you wouldn't even be a Christian. Molestation you said? Get over it! Your tithing helped pay for the settlement. Next!

Anonymous said...

I will not believe the Church is serious about the priest abuse scandal in the US until the Vatican sends Cardinal Law back to the US to face his accusers. By shielding him, the Vatican and the Pope have placed a limit as to how serious they are about confronting this awful scandal. Cardinal Law was as the center of the whole thing in the Boston archdiocise. He should not be sequestered in Rome; rather, he should be held responsible for his years of sheltering his (known) priest abusers.

Anonymous said...

Just another horse and pony show. Entertaing to the max. It's like meeting with the Gypsy leader to accept his "appologies" for the behavior of the members of his tribe. Both are thiefs that won't quit 'cause they don't have to. They have operated this way for eons, and that's how they make their living! By cheating, fraud and manipulations, and child molestation for entertainment. That's why these child molesters became priests, for Chrisake! Go Catholics, be the "sheep" and offer your children to "God"!

Anonymous said...

Benedict XVI was forced to make a representative gesture and offer an apology to victims of clergy sex abuse. The opportunity he missed was placing accountabiity on the bishops and dioceses that are still requiring victims to sue the Church instead of freely offering healing opportunities with therapy, releasing names of those priests accused in the last 50+ years, and allowing victims to speak freely about what happened to them.

Instead, the Church hires attorneys to help re-victimize those molested as children by priests and other religious. When stonewalled, the Church is sued and payments are made to victims as reparations. Money does not in any way pay for years of suffering, lack of self-esteem, and ruined lives. Soul murder has no price.

So, the Pope could have scheduled a meeting with victim/survivors representative of each diocese where abuse occurred and several victim/survivors could have presented the views of those harmed to the Pope.

I have no idea what was said in his meeting with the USCCB; however, he should have put their positions on the line if they continue to do wrong for victim/survivors.

Fr. Gaurav Shroff said...

Wow Mattie, didn't know you had so many anon commenters. You've arrived! :)

Check out the Anchoress: she blogged about her own experience of sexual abuse as a child (from her father, no less), and has her own take on the meeting.