VATICAN CITY
Reuters
October 3, 2018
By Philip Pullella
Pope Francis opened a gathering of bishops on Wednesday with the Catholic Church in a swirling state of crisis over sex abuse, urging its leaders not to let the next generation’s faith be snuffed out “by our own shortcomings, mistakes and sins”.
In signs of the extraordinary pressure the Church has come under from the worldwide abuse scandal, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia had called for the “youth synod” to be canceled so the Vatican could concentrate on preparing another bishops’ meeting on preventing sex abuse.
Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, New Jersey stayed home to deal with the scandal’s fallout, and a Dutch bishop, Robert Mutsaerts of Den Bosch, boycotted, saying the synod lacked credibility.
More than 250 other bishops from around the world will attend the month-long meeting with about 40 young people invited to take part as observers.
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