Amid scandals, Pope says youth ask: ‘Can’t see nobody is listening to you?’

TALLINN (ESTONIA)
CRUX

September 25, 2018

By Claire Giangravè

As the Catholic Church prepares for a summit of bishops in October focusing on youth and vocations within the wider context of clerical sex abuse scandals around the world, Pope Francis called for the Church to be converted and to answer young people’s call for change.

“When we adults refuse to acknowledge some evident reality, you tell us frankly: ‘Can’t you see this?’ Some of you who are a bit more forthright might even say to us: ‘Don’t you see that nobody is listening to you any more, or believes what you have to say?’” the pope acknowledged during an ecumenical meeting with youth in Tallin, Estonia.

“We ourselves need to be converted,” Francis added, “we have to realize that in order to stand by your side we need to change many situations that, in the end, put you off.”

Pope Francis is currently on the last stop of is four-day pastoral visit to the Baltic States, Sep. 22-25. Until now, the pope’s speeches had focused on calling the local faithful to openness and mercy, but on Tuesday he mentioned the sex abuse crisis for the first time on the trip.

Young people “are upset by sexual and economic scandals that do not meet with clear condemnation, by our unpreparedness to really appreciate the lives and sensibilities of the young, and simply by the passive role we assign them. These are just a few of your complaints,” the pope said.

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