The Pope to the Priests of Rome: I Carry the Pain of the Scandals All over the Newspapers of the World

Vatican Insider
March 7, 2019

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AbuseTracker/The%20Pope%20to%20the%20priests%20of%20Rome:%20I%20carry%20the%20pain%20of%20the%20scandals%20all%20over%20the%20newspapers%20of%20the%20world

“I share with you the pain and unbearable punishment that the wave of scandals of which the newspapers of the whole world are now full, is causing in the whole ecclesial body “. “Let us not be discouraged, the Lord is purifying his Bride” and “is saving us from hypocrisy”. These grieving words were uttered by the Pope to the priests of the Diocese of Rome, all gathered this morning in the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano for the traditional meeting at the beginning of Lent.

A sincere dialogue, behind closed doors, during which Bergoglio, flanked by Vicar Angelo De Donatis, did not answer questions as in previous meetings, but spoke for about half an hour following a written speech interspersed with several impromptu sentences. Before that, the Pontiff personally confessed numerous priests.

Then he decides to confess to the priests of “his” diocese, his own state of mind burdened by the recent scandals of abuse, rekindled by the condemnation at the end of February of the Australian Cardinal George Pell and that of a few hours ago of the Archbishop of Lyons, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, without forgetting the various cases in Chile, in the United States and in various European countries.

“It is evident that the true meaning of what is happening is to be sought in the spirit of evil, in the enemy who acts with the pretence of being master of the world”, said the Pope according to what was reported to Vatican Insider by some present in the Basilica. “Yet let us not be discouraged, the Lord is purifying His Bride, He is converting us all to Himself, He is putting us to the test for we to understand that without Him we are dust, He is saving us from hypocrisy, from the spirituality of appearances. He is blowing his Spirit to restore beauty to his Bride, surprised in flagrant adultery.

“Sin disfigures us and with sorrow we live the humiliating experience when we ourselves or one of our brother priests or bishops falls into the bottomless abyss of vice, corruption, or even worse of the crime that destroys the lives of others,” said Francis.