By John Hooper
Guardian
April 15, 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/15/pope-priests-penance-sex-abuse
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| Pope Benedict XVI heads to Malta for a two-day visit on April 17 and 18, his first foreign trip since a wave of priest sex abuse scandals engulfed the Catholic church. Photo by Ben Borg Cardona/AFP/Getty Images |
Pontiff quoted as saying Christians must recognise 'what is wrong in our life' and do penance but message stops short of apology demanded by some
Pope Benedict today called for repentance in the face of criticism of the Roman Catholic church and, in an apparent acknowledgement of collective guilt for the sex abuse scandals, spoke of "our sins".
In his first oblique reference to the current scandal, the pope was quoted on Vatican Radio as saying that, "under attack from the world, which is speaking to us about our sins, it is necessary to do penance – that is, to recognise what is wrong in our life".
Tonight, however, there was more than one version in circulation of a sermon he gave in private and which the Holy See's official daily, L'Osservatore Romano, said he had extemporised. Whatever else it may have been, there was no sign it was the personal apology some of Benedict's critics have been demanding. Indeed, the pope again complained of "aggression against the church".
Benedict was speaking at the start of an eventful few days that will include his own 83rd birthday tomorrow,the fifth anniversary of his papacy on Monday and his first overseas visit since the latest scandal broke. His trip to Malta, beginning on Saturday, will be made against the background of a deepening crisis.
His former faculty colleague, the rebel German theologian, Hans Kung,today urged Benedict's bishops to defy him and demand sweeping reforms. In an open letter published by Suddeutsche Zeitung and other papers, he gave his backing to growing calls for a global church council, such as the one that transformed Roman Catholicism in the 1960s.
Kung said Catholicism faced its biggest crisis since the 16th century Protestant Reformation, and he left readers in no doubt that he held his old friend largely responsible.
He said that, with every day that passed, Benedict's pontificate showed itself more incapable of meeting "the great challenges of our time". He went on to give a long list of the pope's alleged mistakes.
Kung said that, as head of the Vatican department responsible for investigating sex abuse by priests, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had been crucial to a "worldwide system of concealment".
Associated Press reported today that it had uncovered 30 cases of priests accused of molestation being transferred to dioceses in other countries, where some had again abused children or adolescents. The most recent case involved an alleged offence in 2006. The latest scandal has mainly affected continental Europe with allegations surfacing throughout the German-speaking world, in the Netherlands, France, Malta and, most recently, Italy. It emerged today that a pre-trial hearing was to open on 19 May in which a 79 year-old priest from the southern Italian town of Benevento will be charged with assaulting four girls during confession.
Although he has written to Irish Catholics about the scandals there, which date back several years, Benedict had not, until now, directly referred to the situation in the rest of Europe. His latest comments were made in a sermon at a service in the Vatican for the pontifical biblical commission.
"I have to say that we Christians have often avoided the word penance, which seemed to us to be too tough," he was quoted as saying. "Now, under attack from the world, which is talking to us of our sins, we see that being able to do penance is grace and we see how it is necessary to do penance – that is, to recognise what is wrong in our life, to open up to pardon, prepare for pardon [and] let oneself be transformed."
His remarks came in the context of an address that dwelt on the theme of obedience to God, rather than man. Vatican Radio quoted the pope as saying the faithful should beware of conformism. He added that "the subtle, and also less subtle, aggression against the church shows how this conformism can really be a true dictatorship".
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