Pope Meets With Clergy Sex Abuse Victims
On U.S. Visit, Benedict XVI Offers Encouragement To Small Group Of Victims, Vatican Says
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Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Mass, Thursday, April 17, 2008, at Washington Nationals baseball Park in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Pope Benedict XVI arrives to celebrates Mass, Thursday, April 17, 2008, at Washington Nationals baseball Park in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Rev. Gregory Coan from the Archdiocese of Washington, arranges the communion offerings as last minute preparations are made for the mass of Pope Benedict XVI at Nationals Park, Thursday, April 17, 2008 in Washington. (AP)
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The Popemobile, with Pope Benedict XVI aboard, makes his entrance for a Mass, Thursday, April 17, 2008, at Washington Nationals baseball Park in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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Archbishop Donald Wuerl, left, and Monsignor Walter Rossi, director of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, shows Pope Benedict XVI the ceiling of the Basilica in Washington, Wednesday, April 16, 2008. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)
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Pope's Message To Faithful
Over 46,000 people turned out to hear the pope hold Mass in a Washington D.C. baseball stadium, where he gave a message of hope and spiritual renewal. Byron Pitts reports.
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Pope Gives Mass To Thousands
Tens of thousands packed Washington DC's new baseball stadium to hear Pope Benedict XVI give mass. Susan Roberts reports.
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Pope's Birthday Celebrated
With over 13,000 spectators, the pope celebrated his 81st birthday at the White House. But as Byron Pitts reports, the pontiff's message was far more serious than what the crowds would have assumed.
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Pope Benedict In America
The pontiff makes his first trip to the U.S., with stops in Washington and New York.
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Benedict's Papacy In Photos
Images of the pontiff from his childhood, his installment and his travels as pope.
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Interactive: Pope Benedict In America
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In-Depth: Pope's U.S. Itinerary
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a papal spokesman, said that Benedict and Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley met with a small group of victims and offered them encouragement and hope.
Lombardi said the pope told victims he would pray for them, their families and all victims of clergy sex abuse.
Benedict has spoken repeatedly about the abuse crisis during his first trip to the United States as pope.
He called the crisis a cause of "deep shame," pledged to keep pedophiles out of the priesthood and decried the "enormous pain" that communities have suffered from such "gravely immoral behavior" by priest.
He told the nation's bishops that the crisis was "sometimes very badly handled," and said they must reach out with love and compassion to victims. At an open air Mass on Thursday at Nationals Park, he also urged Catholic parishioners to do what they can to heal the wounds caused by the sex abuse scandal.
Thousands of priests have been accused of molesting minors in the U.S. since 1950 and the church has paid out more than $2 billion, much of it in just the last six years, when the case of a serial molester in Boston gained national attention and prompted many victims to step forward.
Gary Bergeron, an outspoken survivor of clergy sex abuse from Boston, failed in his attempt to meet with Pope John Paul II, Benedict's predecessor, when he spent a week at the Vatican a few years ago.
He called Thursday's meeting "a long-sought-for step in the right direction."
"The Catholic Church is partly based on symbolism, and I think the symbolism had he not met with survivors would have been horrendous," the 45-year-old Bergeron said.
Ealier Thursday, Benedict presided over a Mass celebrated in 10 languages, calling the United States a land of opportunity and hope but decrying that the nation's promise has been left unfulfilled for some.
At the first public Mass of his U.S. pilgrimage, Benedict mixed praise for the American experience with an effort to touch consciences, something he has been doing since the start of his trip on Tuesday.
More than 45,000 people filled Nationals Park on a clear spring day, as the pope, wearing scarlet vestments, led the service from an altar erected in centerfield of the recently inaugurated baseball stadium. Rows of red-robed church leaders joined him. The enthusiastic crowd burst into cheers when Benedict entered the stadium in his popemobile.
His homily was more somber. Benedict examined American society, saying he detected anger and alienation, increasing violence and a "growing forgetfulness of God."
"Americans have always been a people of hope," he said. "Your ancestors came to this country with the experience of finding new freedom and opportunity.
"To be sure, this promise was not experienced by all the inhabitants of this land; one thinks of the injustices endured by the native American peoples and by those brought here forcibly from Africa as slaves."
It was not the first time on the trip that the pontiff has delicately critiqued his host nation.
Speaking to his American bishops Wednesday, he said the U.S. must be welcoming to immigrants, helping them to flourish in their new homes.
Following a White House visit, a joint statement from the U.S. and the Vatican hinted that Benedict raised concerns with President Bush about punitive immigration laws. It said the leaders discussed "the need for a coordinated policy regarding immigration, especially the humane treatment of immigrants and the well-being of their families."
The statement also said Bush and Benedict "touched on the need to confront terrorism with appropriate means that respect the human person and his or her rights" - an apparent reflection of the Vatican's strong condemnation of the mistreatment of prisoners.
During Thursday's Mass, Benedict worried about divisions among Catholics, and what he called the "troubling realization" that many are not following church teaching.
Everybody who wanted to -- in the space of about half-an-hour -- received Communion from 300 white-robed priests scattered throughout the stadium, reports CBS News correspondent Dan Raviv.
At 5:45 a.m., more than four hours before the Mass, it was standing-room only on subways. Inside the stadium, pope paraphernalia, such as T-shirts, mugs, bumper stickers, pins and flags were on sale, reports CBS' The Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez.
For others, there was nothing more important than getting in, and many people without tickets stood outside the subway station with signs pleading for extras.
Patty Trail, 54, pastoral associate at a church in Virginia Beach, Va., drove overnight to bring two priests to the Mass. She didn't have a ticket but said she was happy to at least be in the vicinity of the pope.
"Just to be out here, just to be in the presence," she said. "D.C. feels different."
At the end of the two-hour Mass, Benedict blessed the cheering crowd, some of them waving Vatican flags. Worried-looking papal bodyguards stood close and cleared a way for him as he walked out, while many worshippers tried to shake his hand or touch his robes.
A number of lawmakers who support abortion rights attended the Mass, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. John Kerry, the former Democratic presidential candidate. During the 2004 campaign, several bishops questioned whether Kerry should receive Communion because of his stand on abortion. The Massachusetts Democrat who took Communion from a priest far from the papal altar.
For some, the experience of Mass with Benedict was overwhelming. It made Barbara Loh of Williamsburg, Va., tear up.
"I've been Catholic all my life," she said. "My dream has always been to see the pope."
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See all 222 CommentsPosted by tomanyt at 11:39 AM : Apr 17, 2008
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I find that to be a very abhorent remark. Only a small minded fool would say that about the Holy Father.
Betcha didn''''t know that the Gospels specifically say not to call anyone the "Father" except the Father in Heaven.
Jesus said so Himself.
Posted by liberalbias1 at 12:29 PM : Apr 17, 2008
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let us now have a lesson in Latin. Pope in Latin means "Father" & he is the leader of the Catholic Church. Therefore, he is designated as the Holy Father, he is not as holy as God, but it is just a title, nothing more, nothing less.
Betcha didn''''t know that the Gospels specifically say not to call anyone the "Father" except the Father in Heaven.
Jesus said so Himself.
Posted by liberalbias1 at 12:29 PM : Apr 17, 2008
Oh, literal interpretation again. This is a metaphor for the head of the church. I don''t know anyone that sees the pope as an equal to or even remotely close to Jesus or God. Get over it.
Rev Right, Rev Al, Rev Jessie, Rev X or this new guy Rev Poop?
ROFLMFAO
Posted by Quetzal0666 at 01:06 PM : Apr 17, 2008
I think its the hat or maybe the popemobile?? Nah,must be the sandles,
Don''t forget about the ***, Benny. If it wasn''t for the gay boys, the priests wouldn''t have any playmates. Oh, I almost forgot: homosexuality is against "God''s law."
He has the audacity to put the United States down for what was done to the Indians and blacks?
What about his priests that pray on little boys and girls? (And I don''t mean pray for them.) He should clean out his own closet before he opens his mouth.
Posted by feedback3 at 01:25 PM : Apr 17, 2008
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This just proves how stupid the average human is. Yes he was born in Germany during the era of Hitler, in which case every child was to attend Hitler Youth, or suffer the consquences. As for now, I don''t see him wearing a Swastika & ordering all Jews be placed in concentration camps now do I? Also has no one ever heard of a rogue priest? All a child molester has to do is attend college & become a priest, its not that hard to do. Sure they take vows, but they can lie, can they not? Just because there are inquinity sick people in this world doesn''t mean their crimes are rested on 1 man.
Posted by tomanyt at 01:33 PM : Apr 17, 2008
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That is the most rediculous remark I have ever heard. That is like blaming everyone in the United States because of the Tibeten unrest in China.
Posted by honestabe8 at 01:47 PM : Apr 17, 2008
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This just proves how the stupid the average human is & how they make assumptions. These rogue priests are excommunicated & then sentenced to a trial in whatever country they are in.
Posted by Xalen54"
And you called my post ridiculous!!!!
You make absolutely no sense and you have flawed logic by this type of belief.
You''''re picking and choosing which parts of the Scripture you want to believe in, all while ignoring the rest.
This is called "Having your cake and eating it too" Christianity.
However it does not work this way.
Posted by liberalbias1 at 01:55 PM : Apr 17, 2008
God didnt'' write the Bible. Man did. Therefore it is not 100% accurate. It is a collection of stories, parables, and teachings from Jesus.
You atheists are by far the most bigoted human beings on the planet. Noone can hold a candle to your bigotry, especially when it comes to your bigotry of Christians.
Posted by liberalbias1
And Christians aren''t bigoted toward the non-religious?????
Just saying.
A fact that kills you, I know, but sometimes the truth hurts.
Posted by liberalbias1
I hate to say it but I don''t really see any evidence of that at all. In fact, a Pentecostal church, not far from where I live, just build two (very large) churches next to one another at a cost of $150 million a piece. That''s a lot of dough being spent on a building when it could have gone to the poor/homeless. And thing that kills me the most is that they get all this money TAX FREE!!!
Where in the Bible do they talk about sisters of Cain & Able? Maybe I missed that one.
You''re free to continue reading and interpreting the Bible literally for all I care. The problem I have with you is that you preach from your literal background on the rest of us. I''m Catholic and believe in the basic doctrines of Christianity. However, the BIBLE itself does not account for everything in our world. That is why I don''t pick & choose certain "gospels" or "testaments" to focus on like you. You have often made references to particular gospels & so on and continue to pick & choose on here right with the best of them.
And why is incest "legal" in the beginning and then not "legal" later. Could it be that it was a way of reconciling a "story" that didn''t mesh otherwise? Probably.
Why you choose to ignore this undeniable fact is baffling to me.
Posted by liberalbias1 at 02:30 PM : Apr 17, 2008
You are absolutely correct, yet...it has also fomented some of the worst crimes against humanity this world has ever seen. It partakes in and feeds from a level of the psychy prone to credulity and violence...it is this same portion of your conscience from which a muslim claims justice in killing an infidel, or a christian claims justice in bombing a clinic, etc. etc. I''m not saying that religion should be eradicated. I am saying that the types of religious fervor that taps into the worst of all of us should be.
You''''re just choosing to attacking Christians from your world view of things, because the reality is: YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT TRULY MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN.
Not the slightest clue.
Posted by liberalbias1
No liberalbias1, I think its you who doesn''t have a clue.
Christians have killed a lot more people over the last several thousand years, then Stalin. Let see: There was the Spanish Inquisition, which hunts in Salem, the Crusades, etc. No sir, Stalin didn''t do as much killing as Christians have. Put down your bible and read a history book. You may actually find it informative.
honestabe8 was right you are a pompous blowhard.
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