BishopAccountability.org
	Editorial: Journey of a Pontiff Dallas Morning News April 21, 2008 http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-pope_21edi.ART.State.Edition1.467244d.html When John Paul II died at the end of possibly the most extraordinary pontificate in the 2,000-year history of the Roman Catholic Church, it was hard to imagine what kind of man could wear the shoes of the fisherman after Karol Wojtyla strode the globe in them. Joseph Ratzinger, the gentle theology professor who became Pope Benedict XVI, is not the man John Paul was, at least not in terms of style. It has been difficult over the three years of his pontificate to get a clear picture of his mind, which has tempted those who remember him as the Vatican's doctrine chief to stereotype him as a rigid enforcer of rules. His one significant diplomatic stumble his 2006 inflammatory reference to Islam in the context of a scholarly speech revealed the limitations of a man learning the difference between being a professor and being a pope. Nevertheless, in some respects, both the man and his image have been changed by his elevation to spiritual leader for the world's Catholics. "It was easy to know the doctrine," he told dinner companions last year. "It's much harder to help a billion people live it." But last week in the United States, he gave dramatic evidence underscoring that he understands he is not just a pontiff, but also a pastor. Yes, Pope Benedict met the president at the White House, spoke to the American bishops, celebrated Mass for tens of thousands, prayed at Ground Zero and addressed the world community at the United Nations. But nothing Pope Benedict said or did on his American sojourn meant as much, or will have defined his papacy as clearly, as what he did behind closed doors at the Vatican's Washington embassy Thursday afternoon. It was there, away from the cameras, in a session organized by Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, that the pontiff met personally with five men and women who had been sexually abused by priests. Each victim held the pope's hands and told him what had been done to them. And what it had meant. "I asked him to forgive me for hating his church and hating him," Olan Horne told the Boston Globe afterward. Mr. Horne gave the pope a photograph of himself at age 9, before a priest began sexually violating him. "He said, 'My English isn't good, but I want you to know that I can understand you, and I think I can understand your sorrow.' " Not even John Paul, for all his greatness and charity, had the courage and humility to do what Pope Benedict did. It was an unprecedented moment and will surely be remembered as a high point in the history of this terrible scandal, which has caused so much pain, suffering and loss to the Catholic Church. No matter how much one learns about the crimes of the clerical abusers and the bishops who aided and abetted their evil, nothing is as powerful, or as frightening, as listening to victims in their own voices. Only a few years ago, Cardinal Ratzinger, from his Vatican office, was seemingly dismissive of the scandal's gravity. Something happened to him on the journey from then till now. He has come further than we imagined even a few days ago in an editorial on this page. With his simple but profound gesture of pastoral good will, Pope Benedict gave reason to hope that he will take the advice of his sixth-century namesake, the saint who began his famous rule by exhorting followers to listen "with the ear of thy heart." May the seeds those victims planted in the pontiff's sympathetic conscience bear good fruit. The abuse victims and the wider church have been waiting, and hungering, for far too long.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.