PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Dallas Morning News
PHILADELPHIA — At the start of an otherwise joyous and well-received trip to the United States, Pope Francis hit one seriously sour note: He praised U.S. bishops for their handling of the sexual abuse scandal and told priests he felt their pain — leaving abuse victims stunned and infuriated, asking why he neglected to even acknowledge their anguish.
On the last day of his journey, Francis stepped to a lectern here before hundreds of seminarians and bishops from around the world and tried to salve the open wound. He said that he had met in private with a group of victims and pledged that “all responsible will be held accountable.”
“God weeps” at the sexual abuse of children, he said in an early translation from Spanish of his remarks added to the start of a scripted address in the chapel at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary here on Sunday. “I commit to the careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected.”
His remarks and the meeting, anticipated for weeks and carefully choreographed, were greeted with varying degrees of skepticism by abuse victims who have now seen two popes on U.S. trips meet with victims and make sweeping promises to protect children. They would like to believe that Francis’ words are sincere and pledges are real, but they continue to have serious doubts, in part because of his comments earlier this week, and because of how Sunday’s gathering came together.
Some of the victims who met with the pope had been abused by relatives or educators — not all by Catholic clergy.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said this was done intentionally to show that the church is taking a “larger perspective” on the problem of sexual abuse. He added that the pope waited to make these remarks until Sunday, when he was scheduled to address an international group of bishops because, “we know the problem is a universal problem, in the universal church, and also in society.”
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