VATICAN CITY
The Salt Lake Tribune
By ALESSANDRO SPECIALE
| Religion News Service
Vatican City • During the past six months, Pope Benedict XVI has delivered five major speeches to small groups of American bishops who were in Rome for their “ad limina” visits, which are required once every five years.
The ad limina visits are how the pope and Vatican departments keep tabs on bishops from around the world. They are also an occasion for the pontiff to address the major issues faced by a local church.
In his speeches, Benedict often echoed bishops’ concern about religious freedom and the challenges confronting the U.S. church. In his latest address Tuesday, he warned bishops of the “threat of a season in which our fidelity to the gospel may cost us dearly.”
The pope didn’t directly mention the bishops’ recent conflicts with the Obama administration over a birth-control mandate and other hot-button issues, but touched on many of the topics at the heart of the controversy — from conscientious objection to gay marriage.
One factor that might have shaped the pope’s message to the American bishops in recent months is the relative weakness of the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano.
He is a newcomer, having arrived in Washington just weeks before the bishops’ visits started. He has been embroiled in the so-called “Vatileaks” scandal with the publication of his private letters to Benedict that denounced widespread “corruption” in the Vatican.
Here’s a recap of what Benedict had to say on hot-button issues in these past months.
SEXUAL ABUSE
“It is my hope that the church’s conscientious efforts to confront this reality will help the broader community to recognize the causes, true extent and devastating consequences of sexual abuse, and to respond effectively to this scourge which affects every level of society.” (Nov. 26)
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