By Stacy Meichtry
The Wall Street Journal
April 21, 2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704133804575197631699732658.html
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| Pope Benedict XVI waves to followers in St. Peter's Square Wednesday. |
ROME—Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday reaffirmed his pledge to fight sex abuse by priests as church officials in Ireland awaited the departure of a bishop who offered to resign over the scandal months ago.
Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict recounted his meeting with sex-abuse victims in Malta on Sunday, which took place behind closed doors. "I shared with them their suffering, and emotionally prayed with them, assuring them of church action," Pope Benedict said in his first public remarks on the sex-abuse crisis that has shaken his papacy.
The pope's comments came a day before the Vatican is expected to announce that Bishop Jim Moriarty is stepping down as head of the Diocese of Kildare-Leighlin, near Dublin. Bishop Moriarty tendered his resignation to the pope in December, saying later that month that he failed to challenge "the prevailing culture" among Irish church officials of concealing widespread sex abuse from civil authorities.
The Vatican is expected to announce as early as Thursday that Pope Benedict has accepted Bishop Moriarty's resignation, said Rev. Micheal Murphy, a spokesman for the Diocese of Kildare-Leighlin. Father Murphy said the bishop's departure was "imminent," adding that the diocese was waiting for the final word from the Vatican. A Vatican spokesman declined to comment.
Pope Benedict has only recently begun to address the sex-abuse crisis after a month of public questions over his handling of sex-abuse cases as archbishop of Munich-Freising from 1977 to 1982 and subsequently as head of the Vatican's office in charge of defrocking priests. A week ago, the pope delivered a homily to advisers inside the papal palace, calling on the church to "do penance" in response to "attacks" from church critics. During his visit to Malta, the Vatican said the pope told victims of sex abuse that he planned to "implement effective measures" to protect children from abusive priests.
Pope Benedict hasn't elaborated how he plans to crack down on sex abuse. The Vatican recently published an "introductory guide" to church laws and sex-abuse norms that Vatican officials say have always required bishops to comply with civil laws in reporting sex abuse.
Over the past decade, the pope has defrocked abusive priests and personally apologized for the scandal. Critics of the pope have called on him to take swifter action and fire bishops with a record of covering up abuse.
Pope Benedict, however, has taken a more deliberative approach, taking weeks and sometimes months to weigh a decision. In November, a commission backed by Ireland's government reported that local bishops routinely ignored or covered up complaints by children and their parents of sexual abuse.
The pope reacted by calling Irish bishops to Rome in December to discuss how to respond. He then issued a letter to Irish Catholics in March apologizing for the abuse, rebuking bishops for their handling of the scandal and announcing that Vatican officials planned to inspect Irish dioceses. Days later, Pope Benedict accepted the resignation of Bishop John Magee of Ireland's Cloyne diocese after he admitted to mishandling complaints about a sexually abusive priest.
In February, Bishop Moriarty issued a statement describing the December meeting with Benedict XVI and Vatican officials as "long and intense." Bishop Moriarty added that Vatican officials were "proceeding" with his resignation. "My understanding is that it is not a question of 'if' but 'when.' It will not happen immediately but should not go too far beyond Easter," Bishop Moriarty said.
—Margherita Stancati contributed to this article.
Write to Stacy Meichtry at stacy.meichtry@wsj.com
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