POPE BENEDICT BEGS FOR FORGIVENESS

Pope begs forgiveness, promises action on abuse – Yahoo! News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100611/ap_on_re_eu/eu_vatican_priests

Pope begs forgiveness, promises action on abuse

VATICAN CITY – Addressing the clerical abuse scandal from the heart of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI begged forgiveness Friday from victims and promised to “do everything possible” to protect children at a Mass celebrated by 15,000 priests from around the world.

While symbolic, Benedict’s pledge failed to satisfy victims groups who said promises were useless without a clear-cut action plan to root out pedophile priests, expose the bishops who protected them and change the Vatican policies and culture that allowed abuse to continue.

His comments came during a Mass at St. Peter’s Square marking the Vatican’s Year of the Priest — a year marred by revelations of hundreds of new cases of clerical abuse in Europe, Latin America and elsewhere, as well as cover-ups by bishops and evidence of long-standing Vatican inaction….

Benedict said the scandal had shown the need for a purification of the church….

Pope Seeks Forgiveness Over Abuse – WSJ.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703509404575300302224073676.html

Pope Asks Pardon for Scandal

VATICAN CITY—Pope Benedict XVI on Friday asked for forgiveness from God and from victims of sex abuse, pledging to do “everything possible” to prevent future abuse.

Speaking at a Mass marking the close of an international conference of priests, the pope said the Catholic Church had to do a better job of vetting candidates for the priesthood. He also dropped his practice of referring to abuse indirectly when speaking publicly about the crisis.

“The sins of priests came to light—particularly the abuse of the little ones,” the pope said. “We, too, insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again.”

The remarks stopped short, however, of the personal apology that victims’ groups had expected the pope to issue in response to criticism of his handling of sex-abuse cases in Germany and as head of the Vatican’s disciplinary office. Nor did Pope Benedict address what many victims say allowed the scandal to fester: The church hierarchy’s decades-long practice of covering up abuse.

“The Pope still ignores the crux of the crisis—the ongoing recklessness, deceit and callousness of bishops who, even now, protect predators instead of children,” said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests….

After the crisis exploded this year, the Vatican initially described it as a campaign whipped up by the media. Over time, the Vatican has recognized that the church is to blame for not stopping the abuse sooner.