| Pope calls sex abuse by priests ‘Source
of deep sadness and shame’
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Toronto
For the third time since the present sex abuse scandals broke in
the U.S. Catholic church, and for the second time before an audience of youth
in North America, Pope John Paul II has deplored sexual abuse of the young by
priests.
At the same time, the pope called July 28 for Catholics to
remember “the vast majority of dedicated and generous priests and
religious whose only wish is to serve and do good.”
The pope’s comments came during the concluding Mass of the
July 23-28 World Youth Day festival, held at Toronto’s Downsview Park. The
Mass, held amid a driving rain and windstorm, drew an estimated 500,000-800,000
people, predominantly teenagers and young adults. It was carried live on
television in Canada, the United States and Europe.
“If you love Jesus, love the church,” the pope urged the
young people, some 600,000 of whom had slept overnight in cold, wet and muddy
conditions waiting for the Mass. “Do not be discouraged by the sins and
failings of some of her members.”
“The harm done by some priests and religious to the young and
vulnerable fills us all with a deep sense of sadness and shame,” the pope
said.
John Paul paused, then added the line about remembering the
“vast majority” of priests not implicated in the sex scandals. As he
boomed out the “but,” signaling a shift from contrition to defense of
the church, a chorus of applause rose from the crowd.
The response mirrored attitudes on display all week. The young
Catholics gathered in Toronto, largely drawn from the ranks of the most
traditional Catholic families, seemed enthusiastic about calls to be proud of
their faith and to support their clergy.
“There are many priests, seminarians and consecrated persons
here today,” the pope said. “Be close to them and support
them.”
The pope’s first comments after the American stories began to
appear in January came at the end of John Paul’s annual Holy Thursday
letter to priests, released March 21, and dedicated to the sacrament of
reconciliation.
“As priests, we are personally and profoundly afflicted by
the sins of some of our brothers who have betrayed the grace of ordination in
succumbing even to the most grievous forms of the mysterium inquitatis
(“mystery of evil”) at work in the world,” the pope wrote.
“Grave scandal is caused, with the result that a dark shadow
is cast over all the other fine priests who perform their ministry with honesty
and integrity and often with heroic self-sacrifice.”
“As the church shows her concern for the victims and strives
to respond in truth and justice to each of these painful situations, all of us
… are called to commit ourselves more fully to the search for
holiness.”
John Paul addressed the issue again on April 23, on the first day
of a summit involving all the American cardinals and an high-profile group of
Vatican officials.
“People need to know that there is no place in the priesthood
and religious life for those who would harm the young,” he said. The pope
also said that society rightly considers sexual abuse a crime.
At the same time, however, the pope also urged the bishops not to
forget “the power of Christian conversion.”
Ironically, the last time John Paul II visited North America for a
World Youth Day, he also addressed the issue of sexual abuse. In August 1993,
before a crowd of 18,000 in Denver’s McNichols arena, the pope condemned
the “suffering and scandal caused by the sins of some ministers of the
altar.”
As they have in the past when the pope has spoken on the subject,
advocates for the victims of sexual abuse criticized the pope’s comments
as inadequate.
David Gagnon, director for a network of abuse victims in Canada,
said he wished the pope had instructed the bishops to treat victims with
compassion. Gagnon had requested a meeting with the pope but said he received
no response.
“He talked more about good priests than the pain of the
issue,” Gagnon said. “He chose to minimize the crisis and affirm the
priesthood, which to survivors is a very disturbing thing.”
David Clohessy, U.S. director of the Survivors Network of Those
Abused by Priests, said the pope should have said he was sorry.
“A few words of apology from someone of his stature could
help perhaps hundreds of people to feel some sense of healing,” he
said.
John L. Allen Jr. is NCR’s Vatican correspondent.
His e-mail address is jallen@natcath.org.
National Catholic Reporter, August 16,
2002
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