A day after acknowledging the church’s responsibility for the sexual abuse crisis, Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday traveled to this popular pilgrim shrine and prayed for priests not to fall short of their “sublime vocation” or “succumb to the temptations of the evil one.”
In his most direct remarks on the issue to date, Benedict on Tuesday called the abuse crisis “truly terrifying” and said that “forgiveness is not a substitute for justice,” a reference to efforts to hold clergy accountable for the sexual abuse of minors.
After weeks in which Vatican officials had blamed the media and outside critics for the crisis, the pope’s remarks were the first since the sexual abuse crisis began to indicate that the seemingly parallel narratives of the Vatican’s perception of the situation and the perception of many victims and critics appeared to converge.
It was Benedict’s first visit as pope to a shrine that was particularly meaningful to his predecessor, John Paul II, and the current pope sought to broaden its significance, to help the church overcome its current difficulties.
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Pope, Praying for Priests, Visits Shrine
A day after acknowledging the church’s responsibility for the sexual abuse crisis, Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday traveled to this popular pilgrim shrine and prayed for priests not to fall short of their “sublime vocation” or “succumb to the temptations of the evil one.”
In his most direct remarks on the issue to date, Benedict on Tuesday called the abuse crisis “truly terrifying” and said that “forgiveness is not a substitute for justice,” a reference to efforts to hold clergy accountable for the sexual abuse of minors.
After weeks in which Vatican officials had blamed the media and outside critics for the crisis, the pope’s remarks were the first since the sexual abuse crisis began to indicate that the seemingly parallel narratives of the Vatican’s perception of the situation and the perception of many victims and critics appeared to converge.
It was Benedict’s first visit as pope to a shrine that was particularly meaningful to his predecessor, John Paul II, and the current pope sought to broaden its significance, to help the church overcome its current difficulties.
Read the whole article.