Local Catholics Pope Is Missing Opportunity to Promote Healing, by Nancy Reardon, Daily News Tribune, April 15, 2008

Local Catholics: Pope Is Missing Opportunity to Promote Healing

By Nancy Reardon
Daily News Tribune
April 15, 2008

http://www.dailynewstribune.com/archive/x962535130

Local Catholics disappointed that Pope Benedict XVI is not visiting Boston this week say the church leader is missing an important opportunity to promote healing.

Many view the Boston archdiocese as the epicenter of the clergy sex abuse scandal that exploded in 2002. And in a year when the archdiocese is celebrating its bicentennial, some view the pope's itinerary as a snub to abuse victims and a deliberate attempt to avoid controversy.

Photo by Plinio Lepri

"Boston is a symbol of the crisis," said John Moynihan, spokesperson for Voice of the Faithful, a Boston-based lay organization that supports abuse victims. "Obviously, (the pope) didn't come here because the bishops want to bury this story. . . . They don't seem to have an understanding of where the survivors are and how big this problem is."

Church leaders have cited Pope Benedict's age as a factor in planning his trip; the pope turns 81 this week. They also note that of the four U.S. dioceses marking bicentennials this year (Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Louisville, Ky.), the pope is only visiting New York so he can speak to the United Nations.

But John Rogers, who has been leading parishioners at St. Francis Xavier Cabrini in Scituate in a vigil for more than three years to protest the church's closing, expressed skepticism.

"They cite his age, but he's going to be holding open-air Masses in Washington and New York. He could've had a meeting here," he said.

Rogers said a Boston stop could have been a "starting point for a mission of healing."

Some people aren't concerned that the pope isn't visiting Boston. Carrie Fisher, a secretary at Holy Family Church in Rockland, is taking a bus to Yankee Stadium this weekend to celebrate Mass with the pope.

"There was sex abuse (in dioceses) throughout the U.S.," she said. "It wasn't just us. So I don't see a problem with him not coming here."

Cardinal Sean O'Malley and other church leaders have said they expect Pope Benedict to address the sex abuse during his visit.

Several priests who have led local parishes through the emotional and financial fallout from the scandal spoke Monday about the message they'd like to hear.

"He needs to talk about the victims who have been hurt and give them courage," said the Rev. Peter Martocchio of St. Jerome's in Weymouth. "Then he needs to address the priests who have been faithful. Sometimes people paint us all with the same brush."

The Rev. Peter Casey, pastor of St. Agatha's in Milton, said, "I'd like him to in particular address those who have been abused, asking for forgiveness."

But Moynihan, of Voice of the Faithful, said the group is calling for "action, not words."

"I'd like to have him tell us what he's going to do," he said. "He should hold those bishops who knowingly transferred priests around accountable."

The Rev. John O'Brien, of Sacred Heart Church in Quincy, put the controversy around the pope's itinerary in perspective.

"It certainly underlines how important an individual he is in the minds of all, whether they like him or not," he said.

Nancy Reardon can be reached at nreardon@ledger.com