By Shawn Cohen and Gary Stern
Journal News
April 17, 2008
http://lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080417/NEWS02/804170417/-1/SPORTS
WASHINGTON - In his strongest words yet about the clerical sex-abuse crisis, Pope Benedict XVI told America's Roman Catholic bishops yesterday that the scandal was "sometimes very badly handled" by the church's leadership.
"It is your God-given responsibility as pastors to bind up the wounds caused by every breach of trust, to foster healing, to promote reconciliation and to reach out with loving concern to those so seriously wronged," he said at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
The pope said sexual abuse is part of a larger web of daunting social problems facing children and families.
"What does it mean to speak of child protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through media widely available today?" he said. "We need to reassess urgently the values underpinning society, so that a sound moral formation can be offered to young people and adults alike."
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| Pope Benedict XVI is escorted prior to addressing the nations bishops yesterday at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Photo by Pier Paolo Cito |
The pope also acknowledged how the scandal has hurt the morale of priests and caused tension between priests and their bishops.
"They have experienced shame over what has occurred," he said.
Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, outreach director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said that Benedict's comments obscured the fact bishops knowingly kept abusive priests in the ministry.
"It's less helpful for a brilliant theologian to speculate on deviant psychology," she said in a statement. "It's more helpful for a global leader to act like a leader."
In also addressing the challenges of secularism, materialism and those Catholics who have fallen away from the faith, Benedict illustrated the pastoral component of his trip. He was speaking as the head of his church to his bishops.
Earlier in the day, at the White House, Benedict spoke to Americans of all faiths as a visiting dignitary and a moral voice. In his remarks, Benedict praised America's "vast pluralistic society" and the contributions that Catholics, who make up a quarter of the population, have made to the mix.
Benedict emphasized that cnation's founders developed its governing principles based on their belief in a God-given moral order. Religious faith helped drive opposition to slavery and later inspired the civil rights movement, he said.
"All believers have found here the freedom to worship God in accordance with the dictates of their conscience, while at the same time being accepted as part of a commonwealth in which each individual and group can make its voice heard," he said.
Benedict said U.S. democracy must be continually refreshed.
"In a word, freedom is ever new," he said. "It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good."
Among the guests squeezed into the Rose Garden was Patricia Krasnausky, president and chief executive officer at St. Cabrini Nursing Home in Dobbs Ferry. She and colleague Robin Larkins got tickets from a friend at the White House.
Krasnausky said people of many faiths are drawn to the pope.
"People come because there's something about the pope, that it's an international worldwide acknowledgement of that role, with the pope as the real representative of God," said Krasnausky, 61, of Bronxville. "Even though people may belong to a different religion, it's still acknowledged. There's a very special place he holds."
She and Larkins, 44, of Hastings-on-Hudson agreed that Americans who are not quite ready to let go of Pope John Paul II will be drawn to Benedict as they feel his warmth and learn to appreciate his ability to teach.
"I think what he said, freedom is always new," Larkins said. "I think that's a very powerful line and a reminder to us and really a great way to start his visit here. Because, yes, he's preaching the message of faith and hope and love, which is the gospel message. But also, we're always challenged to make freedom new. That's something we're facing right now as a nation. We're facing this whole challenge of making freedom new, in a year of election, in a year of really defining what it is we stand for as voters, as people are going out in electing our next president."
During their private meeting, Benedict and President Bush discussed their concerns about Iraq, according to a joint statement, including the "precarious state of Christian communities there and elsewhere in the region."
They touched on numerous subjects, among them "the defense and promotion of life, matrimony and the family"; the fight against worldwide poverty; terrorism; the need for a two-state solution in the Middle East; and the need for a "humane" immigration policy.
The Rev. Frank Pavone, a Port Chester native who has become a national voice in the culture wars as director of Priests for Life, said the two leaders' strong agreement on opposing abortion was evident.
"(The pope) talked about the self-evident truths in the Declaration of Independence, the rights to life," said Pavone, 49, who was in the crowd. "He was talking about the meaning of freedom and how (certain) political leaders see freedom as separated from truth and morality."
Pavone said tens of thousands will turn out this week to see the man who Catholics believe is the successor to St. Peter. The identity of that man is less important, he said.
"No matter who was elected in '05, no matter who was chosen that day, many of the people coming this week are coming because this is the pope, it's the office of the papacy," he said. "Secondary to that is what's the personality behind it. That's important, but they're primarily expressing their faith in an institution that endures."
After Benedict met with Bush, he took his maiden U.S. ride in the popemobile, traveling along Pennsylvania Avenue to the Vatican embassy. Tens of thousands lined the route, cheering and waving U.S. and Vatican flags as they glimpsed the pope in his bulletproof bubble.
Lorena Brown, 40, took a bus from her home in Brooklyn so she could see the pope and avoid New York City crowds.
"I don't know whether to laugh or cry," she said as he passed by. "It's a feeling I cannot explain. It's very special."
Street merchants nearby peddled Pope Benedict T-shirts. Protesters were scattered along the route, but they were mostly drowned out by the cheering masses.
A few hecklers chanted, "The pope is a criminal. He hides pedophiles," and carried a sign in which Pope Benedict and Osama bin Laden were side by side.
Brown laughed it off.
"We have to love those people, no matter what," she said. "There's love for everybody."
Reach Shawn Cohen at spcohen@lohud.com or 914-694-5046.
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