Pope Benedict XVI ignored calls for a mea culpa over the growing crisis of clerical sex abuse yesterday as a senior prelate insisted the Church would not be intimidated by “petty gossip”. In his Easter Day address, Urbi et Orbi (To the city and world), made to a crowd in St Peter’s Square in Rome, the Pope insisted he would continue his “pilgrimage” and spoke of the need for “a spiritual and moral conversion” and an examination of consciences.
In a departure from the customary arrangements, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals, stood before the 82-year-old Pope in the rain to praise him as the “unfailing rock” of the Church.
“We are deeply grateful for your strength of spirit and the apostolic courage with which you proclaim Christ’s gospel,” he said. Referring to the apostle Peter’s account of Jesus during the Passion, the cardinal added: “When he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not, but committed himself to Him that judgeth righteously.” Cardinal Sodano said the Church would not be intimidated by chiacchiericcio — petty gossip.
The Pope wrote a strongly worded letter to the Irish Church two weeks ago in which he apologised to abuse victims. But he has yet to address the problem elsewhere.
This month the Pope will visit Malta, where 45 priests have been accused of sexual offences since the creation of a church response team in 1999. No case has been referred to the police.
In marked contrast to continued attempts in Rome to blame the media for the row over child abuse by priests and religious orders, and its subsequent cover-up, bishops and archbishops elsewhere begged forgiveness.
Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, admitted that “serious sins” had been committed within the Catholic community. Preaching at Westminster Cathedral, he said: “Talk of sin is not always popular — unless we are talking about other people’s sins. In recent weeks the serious sins committed within the Catholic community have been much talked about.
“For our part, we have been reflecting on them deeply, acknowledging our guilt and our need for forgiveness. This is the journey of Holy Week. Indeed, to appreciate the message of this great Christian feast we have to begin with our own sin and shame.”
The sermons reflected one of the most dramatic Easters in memory for church leaders and their flocks, more used to listening to age-old and often anodyne messages about the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ.
Before preaching at Canterbury Cathedral, Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, issued his own apology to the Catholic Church in Ireland for saying in a programme to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 this morning that it had lost “all credibility”.
A spokesman for the archdiocese of Dublin said: “The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, this afternoon telephoned Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to express his deep sorrow and regret for difficulties which may have been created by remarks in a BBC interview concerning the credibility of the Catholic Church in Ireland.Archbishop Williams affirmed that nothing could have been farther from his intention than to offend or criticise the Irish Church.”
Archbishop Martin, the second most senior Catholic in Ireland, said that he had “rarely felt personally so discouraged” as when he woke to hear Dr Williams’s comments.
Dr Williams had criticised the Catholic Church over its handling of the paedophile priests crisis and made plain his anger over the Pope’s plans to welcome disaffected Anglicans to Rome.
In Rome, the Pope’s personal preacher apologised for comparing media investigations into the Church to the persecution of Jews. Father Raniero Cantalamessa did not withdraw the comments, made at a Good Friday service which the Pope attended, but said: “If I inadvertently hurt the feelings of Jews and paedophilia victims, I sincerely regret it and I apologise.”
At Easter Mass in Dublin’s cathedral protesters placed children’s shoes on the altar to represent the victims of abuse. About five people walked to the steps of the altar, where one man shouted “shame” at Archbishop Martin.
Protesters outside the cathedral said that they also tried to leave shoes but were prevented by police. Rachael Moran, from Dublin, said: “I am beyond disgusted that there are hundreds and hundreds of people in that church. It just really goes to show how warped the Irish mindset is.”
Cardinal Seán Brady, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, acknowledged his role in putting the reputation of the Church before justice for abused children, apologising “with all my heart”, but stopped short of the resignation many believe is inevitable.
Declaring that there was no hiding place for abusers in the Catholic Church, in his Easter Day homily at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh, Cardinal Brady said the Church had put concern for its reputation before vulnerable children, and he said he, too, had allowed himself to be influenced by that culture.
“The lives of survivors of child sexual abuse, the faith of members of the Church, and the credibility of Church leadership have all been wounded grievously by the evil deeds of priests and religious who exploited their position to wreak havoc on the lives of helpless children,” he said.
“Those wounds were aggravated by serious mismanagement on the part of bishops and other leaders in the Church. Those wounds, like the wounds on the body of the risen Christ, will not go away. We must take them seriously.”
Referring to the failure to follow proper procedures and, until more recent times, to bring abusers to justice in the civil courts, Cardinal Brady said: “I realise that, however unintentionally, however unknowingly, I, too, allowed myself to be influenced by that culture in our Church and our society. I pledge to you this evening that, from now on, my overriding concern will always be the safety and protection of everyone in the Church — but especially children and all those who are vulnerable.” Addressing those who might be sceptical, he said: “There is now no hiding place for abusers in the Church.”
The leader of Scotland’s Catholics defended the Vatican’s handling of the scandal, saying such matters should be dealt with “at a local level”. However, Cardinal Keith O’Brien suggested that the Pope should apologise again for the abuse crisis.
Joe O'grady (9.4.2010, 14:50)