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	A Seed of Hope Is Sown by Visit By Susan Pawlak-Seaman Standard-Times April 21, 2008 http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/LIFE/804210314/-1/NEWS Through the years, I've had my share of disagreements with the Catholic Church. And I've been outspoken about some of them. Yet, while I might not fit the traditional description of a "devout Catholic," I'm firm in my faith. No doubt I'm far from perfect, but I try hard to be a good person and live a good life. In fact, one of the many things I admired about Pope John Paul II was his ability to reach out to all his flock " even us black sheep. The man was something special and when he died, I was truly saddened. I was even more disconsolate with the naming of his successor: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. Initially, when he was chosen to succeed John Paul II, I worried that the church was about to take a major step backward to the times and attitudes that bred " and ultimately covered up for " the unconscionable acts of sexual abuse committed by some priests. Pope Benedict struck me as regressive, ultra-conservative and entrenched in the old ways. While I continued to go to church, I found myself pretty much closing my ears to what came out of Rome. Even when it was announced that the pope was coming to America, I didn't have high hopes for the visit. Particularly when it became clear that Boston " the very heart of the crisis in the church " wasn't on his itinerary. And, although Pope Benedict promised he would comment on the abuse, I anticipated a kind of lukewarm "It was a bad thing" before he moved on to some more comfortable subject. When word came last Thursday that he had met in private with five of the Boston-area victims of clergy abuse, my first reaction was disbelief. But as more and more has emerged about the meeting, my respect for Pope Benedict has grown. I clearly underestimated him. His reaching out to the victims took me totally by surprise " and I'd guess I wasn't alone. Sadly, we've come to expect a church hierarchy that, at best, has isolated itself from the unpleasantness and, at worst, has totally ignored it. That this pope would actually talk and personally apologize to real victims was totally unexpected. At least for doubting Thomases like me. That said, I'm convinced it never would have happened without the intervention of Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley. During his tenure in the Fall River Diocese, Bishop O'Malley was called upon to deal with the long trail of broken children, now adults, forever robbed of their innocence by pedophile ex-priest James Porter. While Bishop O'Malley couldn't right the wrongs that had been committed, while he couldn't erase the terrible damage the church had done by moving Porter from parish to parish with not even a whisper of his evil, he brought a dark secret into the light. He has worked to do the same in Boston " and now, on a much larger scale. Certainly, Pope Benedict's meeting with the abuse victims wasn't some miracle cure to the ills of the Catholic Church. In no way can one half-hour visit in Washington, D.C., wash away what has festered for decades. More, much more, remains to be done. Yet, if we look to find meaning in the actions of Pope Benedict XVI, it is there for us to see. What the Holy Father has given, at long last, is a true beginning to healing. And hope. Contact Susan Pawlak-Seaman at sseaman@s-t.com
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