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  A Painful US Trip for the Pope, He Meets Sex Abuse Victims

New Europe (Belgium)
April 21, 2008

http://www.neurope.eu/articles/85710.php

Pope Benedict XVI did more than talk about the sex abuse of children by Catholic priests during his American trip: he met with them, face-to-face, in what turned out to be a dramatic audience. The pope stood before them almost as if in front of a jury, recalled Olan Horne, one of the priest sex abuse victims who met with the Pope. Horne described details of the Popes meeting with five victims from Boston - the first such known meeting for the Vatican, at least since the wave of worldwide abuse revelations that started in the 1990s.
Benedict, who went to New York to address the United Nations, had made public comments about the sex scandal every day during his trip, first with reporters on board the plane with him on the way into Washington, where he was personally met at Andrews Air Force Base by US President George Bush.
While survivor groups expected such a meeting, they themselves had never heard a response from the Vatican on their requests for an audience. Three of the five who met for 25 minutes with the pontiff talked to CNN. All said they had been molested as children by a priest.
I had so much what I wanted to say, and I just burst into tears, said Faith Johnston, a young woman who was describing her reaction when she saw the pope. She said Benedict asked about her upcoming wedding, and she left the meeting with peace of mind and optimism about the future.
Horne, who appeared to be in his 40s, was less conciliatory. I talked about my hate for the church. I asked him to forgive me for having such hate, Horne said. And the pope, in a homily before 46,000 people at a baseball stadium in Washington, said, I acknowledge the pain which the church in America has experienced as a result of the sexual abuse of minors. No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse.

 
 

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