Florida Catholic | Editorial

Pope’s message was loud and clear

Published: 05.06.08

May Our Lord Jesus Christ grant the church in America a renewed sense of unity and purpose, as all – bishops, clergy, religious and laity – move forward in hope, in love for the truth and for one another.”
—Pope Benedict XVI
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, April 19, 2008

It was surprising that among the first quotes from Pope Benedict XVI from the papal plane en route to the United States concerned the clergy sexual abuse scandal. I was astonished, because I knew there were no speeches scheduled at the arrival ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base; the pope and President Bush were not scheduled to address crowds publicly until the next morning.

This meant that all the media would have for the first night of the news cycle for the pope’s visit would be photos of the energetic octogenarian being greeted by America’s church leaders and the first family – and the questions he answered on the plane. One set of cheerful images and a different set of words about a “tragic situation.” Didn’t the pope and his communications people realize this dichotomy, I wondered to myself, and a few Catholic press colleagues?

Most people assumed the pope would address the sexual misconduct crisis on this visit; the question was “how?” Early in the planning, the pope had been invited to extend his visit to Boston, considered one of the central tempest zones of the scandal, but that idea was dropped.

So, it appeared that the pope planned to get the topic out of the way right off the bat. On the papal plane, Pope Benedict called the scandal a great suffering for the church in the U.S., the church in general and for himself personally. “We are deeply ashamed and will do all possible that this cannot happen in the future,” he said. The pope cited new norms approved by U.S. church leaders for dealing with sexual abuse, and he noted recent visitations of all U.S. seminaries to assess the quality of formation programs, according to Catholic News Service Rome bureau chief John Thavis, reporting from the flight.

But he didn’t stop there. Without diluting his message for any specific group or venue, he deliberately wove a message about clergy misconduct and its impact on the victims into almost every speech or homily he gave.

The pope acknowledged the pain and suffering caused by the misconduct of some priests. He noted that the bishops have already begun to address the problem, and at Nationals Park in Washington he asked the faithful to pray for their devoted priests who need support.

Pope Benedict also held a previously unannounced meeting with five victims of clergy abuse from the Archdiocese of Boston. At the meeting, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley gave the pope a book with the handwritten names of 1,000 victims of clergy misconduct, indicating that those at the meeting represented all those who had been abused over the years.

It’s obvious from these words and actions that the pope shares the concerns of those in the church in the United States who have developed a pastoral response to victims, policies for psychological screening of seminarians and priests, and background checks and training for employees and volunteers. It is likely the Catholic Church now has the most comprehensive program of any organization in the U.S. to respond to allegations of abuse and to prevent such occurrences in the future.

This is appropriate because, as a matter of justice, even one case of sexual misconduct by anyone entrusted by the church with the care of children or vulnerable adults is too many. We should do all we can to prevent this. Through victim assistance coordinators, the church stands ready to respond to allegations of abuse and provide pastoral counseling to those affected by it. Through screening and training programs, the church hopes to prevent any future incidents. This is as it should be.

Pope Benedict emphasized that he understands how critical this issue is, and he endorsed and encouraged the efforts that are being made to address it and look forward to the future. Reflecting on the abuse crisis in his homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, he said, “May Our Lord Jesus Christ grant the church in America a renewed sense of unity and purpose, as all – bishops, clergy, religious and laity – move forward in hope, in love for the truth and for one another.”

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