UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph
By Tim Stanley
We’ve heard very little from Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI since his retirement, but he’s made a surprise return to public life. Benedict has written a letter to the atheist mathematician Piergiorgio Odifreddi, covering subjects from the sex abuse scandal to evolution – and extracts have been released by Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper. Coming off the back of Francis’ letter to another atheist on the subject of obeying one’s conscience, it’s hard not to draw parallels between the two and there’s already discussion about the possibility of collaboration. Either way, Benedict makes some interesting points.
First, he rejects involvement in the cover up of priests engaged in sexual abuse:
I have never tried to hide these things. That the power of evil penetrate to such an extent in the inner world of faith is for us a suffering which, on the one hand, we have to endure, while, on the other, we must at the same time, do everything possible to ensure that such cases do not repeated.
This probably will not satisfy those who feel the Church hasn’t done nearly enough or with sufficient speed – and who will continue, fairly or not, to blame the Vatican for the inaction. Benedict adds that this one sin should not blind people to the wider accomplishments of Christianity:
You have to remember the great figures and even that faith has produced – by Benedict of Nursia and his sister Scholastica, Francis and Clare of Assisi, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, the great saints of charity as Vincent de Paul and Camillo de Lellis to Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the great and noble figures of the nineteenth century Turin. It is also true today that faith leads many people to selfless love, in service to others, sincerity and justice.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.