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	Being Pope Means a Lot More Than Just Saying You're Sorry Benedict's Approach to the Abuse Scandal Eschews Cheap Politics for Real Compassion By John Zucchi Montreal Gazette April 21, 2008 http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/features/viewpoints/story.html? id=98850287-0994-4487-812b-3780b5827a16&k=60917 I don't find myself agreeing with Janet Bagnall very often but I totally agree with her statement on the sexual abuse scandal that "Apologies aren't enough" (Opinion, April 18). It's not clear, however, from Bagnall's article just what would be enough. She seems to suggest that apologies from the Church will not be seen as sincere as long as Cardinal Bernard Law has a "plushy sinecure" in Rome. The plushy sinecure in question, I assume, is that of archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, technically an important role but practically an honorific position. Although he was four years shy of 75, the age at which a bishop must tender his resignation, or his charge of a diocese, Cardinal Law was not given the charge of another diocese. This of course sent a signal. During this visit to the United States Pope Benedict XVI has made it unambiguously clear that apologies are not enough. What form of human justice could possibly give a sense of closure to the thousands of victims of sexual abuse at the hands of priests and religious? Who can give a sense of meaning to their suffering? What can repair the damage wrought by these priests? Pope Benedict has spoken about the shame of this betrayal. In his statements and in his homily in Washington he has acknowledged the sins committed by human beings who had a position of trust before young individuals, many of whom were already in precarious and vulnerable home situations. His call to screen future applicants to the seminaries with utmost care implicitly acknowledges a structural problem, where seminaries and bishops did not scrupulously weed out a tiny minority who perpetrated so much evil. It is interesting that Pope Benedict did not stop at an apology. He has not done what some pastors and bishops have tried to do in the past, to simply sweep the problem under the carpet. And neither has he equated justice with a legal settlement or payouts. That would be too easy. Pope Benedict recognizes that no human justice will ever right the wrongs that the young victims of priests have undergone. Some of those priests have been meted out human justice with prison sentences. Others are being pursued or will be pursued by the courts. In any case they have already created their own hell here on Earth. During this visit to the United States the pope has gone beyond an apology, which after all is a human action that might only be construed as trying to end a problem. Benedict XVI has, without fanfare, met some of the victims of these crimes and has let them know that the Church will not abandon them. His approach is not legal or political, but eminently pastoral. He has called the Catholic community in the United States to repentance and reconciliation and has asked them to stay in a relationship with hope and unity with the victims of sexual abuse, who are, after all, part of the Catholic community. This is a far cry from such facile solutions as making an example of Cardinal Law in so that church apologies will appear more sincere. That is a political solution that does not take into consideration the person who has suffered hurt. Benedict will not play a political game that is ultimately based on moralism and self-interest. Rather he has chosen to do what he is called to do: lead the church pastorally, not abandoning any of his flock, and basing his approach on faith, hope and charity. JohnZucchi is a professor of history at McGill University.
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