WEST BANK: Pilgrims in the Holy Land, mayor of Bethlehem, hope Pope will address sex abuse scandal during Easter Sunday rituals

Record ID: 562532

  • Title: WEST BANK: Pilgrims in the Holy Land, mayor of Bethlehem, hope Pope will address sex abuse scandal during Easter Sunday rituals
  • Date: 5th April 2010
  • Summary: BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (APRIL 4, 2010) (REUTERS) CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS WALKING IN MANGER SQUARE, TOWARDS THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY NATIVITY REPORTER SPEAKING TO PILGRIMS IN THE SQUARE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BERNHARD, PILGRIM FROM SWITZERLAND SAYING: "For me the Pope was not clear enough to condemn this sexual abuse, that I hope he will be very clear today, and I think it would be necessary to have very clear rules what is in future in such sexual crimes. It's not only the past but it's especially the future." CHURCH EXTERIORS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAYOR OF BETHLEHEM, VICTOR BATARSA, SAYING: "I think as a Roman Catholic and the mayor of this holy town of Bethlehem, his Holiness the Pope should give a straightforward answer to all these happenings that have been done be some of the priests in the Catholic church. Abuse of children is not accepted anywhere, especially from church members." MORE OF CHURCH EXTERIORS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAYOR OF BETHLEHEM, VICTOR BATARSA, SAYING: "I think he (the Pope) should give an eye and let all the cardinals, all over the world, the cardinals of the catholic church, to speak and say something about this so that this whole problem will quieten up." CROSS ON TOP OF CHURCH (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARKUS, PILGRIM FROM GERMANY SAYING: "What I heard is that he (the Pope) hasn't a really pro-active approach to address the issue, and I would have like to have learnt more about how the church tries to deal with the problem, both in the past, how to help the victims, but also how to critically address weather we need to change something in the Catholic church as to prevent such scandals in the future, such abuse." PILGRIM WALKING AWAY
  • Embargoed: 20th April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVABDUPQ6SY4BO1VZLX2S0DAZYRO
  • Story Text: Pilgrims in the West Bank town of Bethlehem voiced their disappointment on Easter Sunday (April 4) from Pope Benedict's handling of the latest scandal to hit the Catholic church.
    "For me the Pope was not clear enough to condemn this sexual abuse, that I hope he will be very clear today, and I think it would be necessary to have very clear rules what is in future in such sexual crimes. It's not only the past but it's especially the future," said Bernhard, a pilgrim from Switzerland, who came to the Church of Nativity, believed to be the birth place of Jesus, to participate in Easter Sunday mass.
    "What I heard is that he (the Pope) hasn't a really pro-active approach to address the issue, and I would have like to have learnt more about how the church tries to deal with the problem," another pilgrim from Germany said in Bethlehem.
    The mayor of Bethlehem, Victor Batarsa, who hosted the Pope in his 2009 visit to the West Bank town, was also critical of the manner in which the alleged coverup was handled.
    "I think as a Roman Catholic and the mayor of this holy town of Bethlehem, his Holiness the Pope should give a straightforward answer to all these happenings that have been done be some of the priests in the Catholic church. Abuse of children is not accepted anywhere, especially from church members," Batarsa told Reuters, adding that the Pope should call upon all cardinals in the church to speak against the abuse, world wide.
    There is keen anticipation to see if the pope addresses the accusations later on Easter Sunday (April 4) when he makes his twice-yearly "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) address in St Peter's Square.
    On Saturday (April 3) the Pope led the world's Catholics into Easter with the holiest day of the liturgical calendar clouded by persistent allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests.
    The 82-year-old pope presided at an Easter Eve service that began late on Saturday night in St Peter's Basilica. During the service, he received six adult converts into the Church and administered the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation to them.
    Wearing gold vestments and looking tired, he weaved his sermon around the theme of eternal life.
    In the past three days of Holy Week services he has made no reference to the scandal that has sorely hurt the Church's image around the world, particularly in Europe and the United States.
    The celebrations leading up to Easter Sunday have been clouded by accusations the Church in several countries mishandled and covered up episodes of sexual abuse of children by priests, some dating back decades.
    Shaken by the crisis, the Vatican has accused the media of attempting to smear the pope. Some reports have accused him of negligence in handling abuse cases in previous roles as a cardinal in his native Germany and in Rome.
    The Vatican has denied any cover-up over the abuse of 200 deaf boys in the United States by Reverend Lawrence Murphy from 1950 to 1974. The New York Times reported the Vatican and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, were warned about Murphy but he was not defrocked.
    This year, Easter and the Jewish Passover fell in the same week.
    But the coincidence was marred when the pope's personal preacher, Father Raniero Cantalamessa, said in a Good Friday sermon that attacks on the Catholic Church and the pope over the sexual abuse scandal were comparable to "collective violence" against Jews.
    Jewish leaders around the world used words like repugnant, obscene, and offensive to describe the sermon, particularly, as Rome's chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni noted, it came on the day that for centuries Christians prayed for the conversion of the Jews, who were held collectively responsible for Jesus' death.
    The Vatican's newspaper continued its campaign against the media for reports on alleged cover-ups of sexual abuse of children by priests, saying the pope had become the target of "despicable campaign of defamation". It also denounced what it called a "crude campaign against the pope and Catholics".
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