- Title: VATICAN: Pope apologises for "sacrilegious cult" of Church's sexual abuse
- Date: 7th July 2014
- Summary: VATICAN CITY (JULY 7, 2014) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) VATICAN SPOKESMAN, FATHER FEDERICO LOMBARDI, SAYING: "I can tell you it was a very positive and profound meeting. I saw these people had really been touched and were grateful and happy to have had lived this moment. The Pope, as well, was moved, it was a three-and-a-half hour meeting from the mass in the morning, so it was a very long and intense morning. Especially for a person who tries to listen and tries to put themselves in the others position in a profound manner, this was not a superficial meeting. The length of this meeting shows us there was an effort to try and understand and participate and to listen. If it had just been a formality it could have been shorter." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) VATICAN SPOKESMAN, FATHER FEDERICO LOMBARDI, SAYING: "Our problem is what we do really, what the pope has really done and for the person who understands, and sees, and listens to the pope, and what he is doing, it is totally clear that this was absolutely not a public relations event and if you see the person that come out of this meeting with the pope, you understand it was not a public relation. It is a very profound, spiritual encounter and dialogue with a pastor, a father, a person that loves and tries to understand deeply." MEDIA
- Embargoed: 22nd July 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Vatican City State
- Country: Vatican City State
- Topics: Religion
- Reuters ID: LVA4MKJ4XDOCXVL9DNUO2XB3PZXE
- Story Text: Pope Francis on Monday (July 7) told victims of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clerics the church should "weep and make reparation" for crimes he said had taken on the dimensions of a sacrilegious cult.
"This is what causes me distress and pain at the fact that some priests and bishops, by sexually abusing minors, violated their innocence and their own priestly vocation," he said in his strongest comments yet on the crimes, delivered at a Mass with adult victims.
"It is something more than despicable actions. It is like a sacrilegious cult, because these boys and girls had been entrusted to the priestly charism in order to be brought to God," the pope said.
Francis delivered his homily to six victims of abuse, two each from Ireland, Britain and Germany, before meeting each one individually in a gathering that lasted nearly four hours, spending about 30 minutes with each one.
"Today the heart of the Church looks into the eyes of Jesus in these boys and girls and wants to weep; she askes the grace to weep before the execrable acts of abuse against minors," Pope Francis said.
"Before God and his people I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse committed against you. And I humbly ask forgiveness," he said.
"There is no place in the Church's ministry for those who commit these abuses and I commit myself not to tolerate harm done to a minor by any individual, whether a cleric or not," the pope said.
"All bishops must carry out their pastoral ministry with the utmost care in order to help foster the protection of minors, and they will be held accountable," he said.
The names and ages of the victims were not released but they were believed to be in their 30s and 40s, according to people who helped organise the gathering.
Victims groups have been pressing the Vatican to hold bishops accountable if they covered up crimes. The pope addressed this directly, repeating the thrust of what he said last April in a conversation with reporters.
"I can tell you it was a very positive and profound meeting," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told journalists at a briefing.
"I saw these people had really been touched and were grateful and happy to have had lived this moment. The Pope, as well, was moved, it was a three-and-a-half hour meeting from the mass in the morning, so it was a very long and intense morning. Especially for a person who tries to listen and tries to put themselves in the others position in a profound manner, this was not a superficial meeting," Lombardi added.
Francis has said he would show zero tolerance for anyone in the Catholic Church who abused children, including bishops, and compared sexual abuse of children by priests to a "Satanic Mass".
But he has also come under fire from victims groups for saying in an interview this year that the Roman Catholic Church has done more than any other organisation to root out paedophiles in its ranks.
Why the pope waited nearly 16 months since his election in March 2013 to meet sexual abuse victims is not clear, particularly as his predecessor, former Pope Benedict, met some several times during his trips outside Italy.
Victims groups have said the pope had a spotty record of dealing with abuse cases in Argentina when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, and victims from that country sent him a letter asking him why they were not invited.
Answering questions on the criticism Pope Francis has attracted, Lombardi said:
"The length of this meeting shows us there was an effort to try and understand and participate and to listen. If it had just been a formality it could have been shorter."
"For the person who understands, and sees, and listens to the pope, and what he is doing, it is totally clear that this was absolutely not a public relations event," Lombardi said.
"If you see the person that come out of this meeting with the pope, you understand it was not a public relation. It is a very profound, spiritual encounter and dialogue with a pastor, a father, a person that loves and tries to understand deeply," Lombardi added.
The Vatican says 3,420 credible accusations of sexual abuse by priests had been referred to the Vatican in the past 10 years and 824 clerics defrocked. The Church in the United States has paid $2.5 billion in compensation to victims.
The commission advising the pope on the sexual abuse crisis, which includes Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley, met on Sunday and is expected to announce that it will expand it ranks to include more members from the developing world.
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