Pope Benedict Apologizes for Clergy Abuse in Australia
By Phil Mercer
Sydney
19 July 2008
Pope Benedict has apologized for ***ual abuse in the Catholic Church in
Australia and has insisted that those responsible should be brought to
justice.
The pope told a mass in Sydney Saturday ***ual abuse by clergy had brought
shame
to the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict is in Sydney for World Youth Day.
From
Sydney, Phil Mercer re****ts.
Pope Benedict XVI during Mass in St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, 19 Jul
2008
Pope Benedict told a mass in Sydney the behavior of pedophile priests was
"evil"
and a grave betrayal of trust that had brought great shame on the Catholic
Church.
He said the perpetrators should be brought to justice.
"I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured and
I
assure them that as their pastor I too share in their suffering. These
misdeeds,
which constitute so grave a betrayal of trust, deserve unequivocal
condemnation," he said.
The papal apology was widely anticipated and echoes the contrition the
pope
expressed on a visit to the United States earlier this year.
Sup****t groups for victims in Australia have said that Pope Benedict's
apology
was not sufficient.
They have called for the church to end what they describe as a continuing
cover-up of the scale of the problem.
They have also demanded "appropriate" levels of financial compensation.
Anthony Foster, whose daughter committed suicide after being raped by a
Catholic
priest who also attacked her sister, says the pope's words do not go far
enough.
"I'll accept an apology if the pope will wholeheartedly embrace the notion
of
begging forgiveness from victims, and sup****ting them in every way
possible and
putting the full resources of the Church behind that sup****t so they can
have a
reasonable life. They will never recover fully from what has happened to
them,"
said Foster.
There have been 107 convictions of pedophile clergy in Australia, but
campaigners have insisted that there could be thousands of victims, as
only a
few cases ever go to court.
***ual abuse by Catholic priests has overshadowed the pope's visit to
World
Youth Day in Sydney, with senior church officials reopening a 25-year-old
case
of indecent assault in Australia only days before the pontiff arrived.
Pope Benedict XVI watches as an Aboriginal girl carries a candle during an
Evening Vigil at Randwick Racecourse at World Youth Day in Sydney, 19 Jul
2008
World Youth Day festivities have continued in Australia's biggest city,
with
tens of thousands of pilgrims marching across the Sydney harbor bridge on
their
way to an all-night vigil at a race course before a giant, open-air papal
mass
on Sunday.
World Youth Day is a global celebration that is meant to inspire a new
generation of Catholic Pedophiles, Pederasts and Perverts.
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