‘We are only allowed to look down on a person to help them get up,’ Pope Francis told young people at the penitential ceremony.
For the first time, victims of clerical abuse, of war and indifference told their stories Tuesday (Oct. 1) in the marbled nave of St. Peter’s Basilica before Pope Francis, prominent prelates and young people representing the next generation of Catholics.
The penitential ceremony occurred during a vigil that opened the monthlong Vatican summit on the theme of synodality, described by organizers as “a new way of being church,” focused on welcoming and dialogue.
A South African baritone singer, who introduced himself as Laurence, described the lasting trauma he has suffered from being abused by a priest as a child. He spoke about the effects the sexual abuse crisis, and its cover-up, have had on the credibility of the church.
“This moment in time, in all its…
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