Pope Sorry For Australia Sex Abuse Scandal

Pope Benedict XVI Makes Apology During Mass In Sydney

(AP)  Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday said he was "deeply sorry' for the sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy in Australia, describing the offenses as evil and a grave betrayal of trust.

"I would like to pause to acknowledge the shame which we have all felt as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and religious in this country," Benedict said during an address at a Mass in Sydney.

"I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured. I assure them as their pastor that I too share in their suffering," he said.

"Those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice."

Support groups for victims of church abuse in Australia, whose numbers are not known but who activists say are in the thousands, said a papal apology is not enough and demanded the church end what they say is a continuing cover-up of the scale of the problem and stop fighting compensation claims lodged in civil courts.

"Sorry is not enough. Victims want action, not just words," the Broken Rites group said in a statement posted Saturday on its Web site.

There was no immediate word whether Benedict would meet with victims of clergy abuse, as he did during his trip to the United States in April, when he also expressed his shame for the scandal.

Benedict spoke of the scandal several times during the April journey, saying that the issue had caused "so much suffering" for the American church. During that trip he also met with a small group of victims from the Boston Archdiocese, where the scandal boiled over in 2002. It was believed to be the first time a pope had met with victims of clerical sex abuse.

The pontiff is in Australia to lead hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in the church's World Youth Day, a global celebration meant to inspire a new generation of Catholics.

During his appearances in Australia, Benedict has spoken about the need to strengthen traditional Christian values including charity and chastity, and decried the selfishness and greed of today's "cult of material possessions."

In his remarks Saturday, the pope said the scandal of clergy sexual abuse had badly damaged the church.

"These misdeeds, which constitute so grave a betrayal of trust, deserve unequivocal condemnation," he said. "They have caused great pain, they have damaged the church's witness."

Benedict will join tens of thousands of young Catholics for a couple of hours later Saturday at an open-air vigil held at a horse race track in Sydney. He will lead a Mass on Sunday before an estimated crowd exceeding 200,000 that will mark the culmination of the World Youth Day festival.

On Friday, Benedict told representatives of Islam and other faiths that they must unite to combat religion's role in "sinister and indiscriminate" violence.

Without mentioning terrorism directly, the pontiff said there were those in who were using religion "as a cause of division rather than a force for unity" in a 40-minute exchange with Australian Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist leaders in Sydney.

"In a world threatened by sinister and indiscriminate forms of violence, the unified voice of religious people urges nations and communities to resolve conflicts through peaceful means and with full regard for human dignity," Benedict told the leaders.

The remarks come as the Vatican tries to cool lingering anger among Muslims over a speech Benedict gave in 2006 that appeared to associate Islam with violence. Benedict quickly apologized for the link.

Benedict, who last week said his church was in "crisis" in the West because many had lost faith in God, held a separate meeting with deputies of Christian denominations. He urged them to cooperate against secularism and apathy.

"I think you would agree that the ecumenical movement has reached a critical juncture," he told the Christian representatives. "We must guard against any temptation to view doctrine as divisive."

The pope also blessed the opening scene of a live reenactment of the stations of the cross - the Bible's depiction of Christ's last days - that was played out through Sydney, with some of the city's most recognizable landmarks in the backdrop.

Pilgrims lined the streets to watch the recreation, which stretched over three hours and included often stark scenes of brutality toward Jesus, including his being nailed to a cross. Organizers estimated the live television audience for one of the festival's most dramatic events topped 500 million.

[grammawhamma]

The Catholic religion worships money above God. I''m so glad I escaped from their cult when I reached age 18!

[tootall10142]

WHEN THE COMMON RISE AGAINST THE GREAT ***( CATHOLIC CHURCH) THEN THERE WILL BE ANARCHY INTO THE AGES AS WE KNOW THEM.WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE? I CAN TELL YOU THEY ARE THE FRONT ROW WONDERING WHICH PRIEST WILL STEP DOWN THIER GARDEN.

[petesis]

The greatest wolf in sheeps clothing... the catholic church. Only lately surpassed by all these protestants.

[bpai99]

Gotta give those pedophiles and other sexual abusers some credit - they realized and took advantage of the fact that the Catholic priesthood is great cover from which to stage their predatory actions. Not only do the victims come to you and trust you, but the Church will protect you and relocate you elsewhere so that you can start fresh ravishing a new flock. And, they''ll attack the victims who speak up. What more could you ask for as a sexual predator?

[rushlimpdrug]

Posted by brianstillwa at 06:47 PM

amen

ben-e-dict lately?

[brianstillwa]

Peace to good Pope Benedict and to all of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Hoping that this gathering in Sydney sows the seeds of good will amongst all believers and draws many into a deeper relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

[rushlimpdrug]

Posted by drivelphobe at 01:12 PM


could be.

I''m now calling my "the beast"

[gurusavant]

women and f(gs should not be priests. duh..

[thisandthat1]

There''s probably a clause in the Vatican Insurance policy that says they have to publicly apologize or they have to pay double.

[excoachken]

O.K., we know how bad you feel, no ante up aome big $$$$$$$$$$ to show how you "share their pain."

[drivelphobe]

rushlimpdog..

Isn''t a whooper someone who works for Wahoo?

[randynason]

Pope Sorry For Australia *** Abuse Scandal

What the Pope really means is that he''s sorry that the church got caught with it''s pants down, or robe down, as it is.

[rushlimpdrug]

Posted by drmaqazi at 11:23 AM

So I didn''t realize the thing hanging
between my legs was the beast.

I always considered it a whooper.

[antizion]

The pope was in charge of covering up these crimes and hiding the offending priests. That is how he got to be pope. Being a Hitler youth didn''t hurt him either. It was after all the the catholic church that brought Hitlers SS to the us after the war ended.

Has anyone figured out that religion is nothing more than a racket to exploit people that lack personal thought integrity?

Sorry to say but my experience has always been that stupid and religion always come in the same package.

[rushlimpdrug]

Posted by FuzzyBear9 at 10:43 AM

You wouldn''t be the same bear that tried
to sleep with the guy in Monatana would you?

Anyway, hope you one day get out of the
circus act.

Childmolester - condoned by God, church and
Fuzzy da'' bear (until caught).

[ubrew12]

Gives new meaning to the term:
''The Thunder from Down Under!''

[fuzzybear9]

Hello America

Fuzzy Bear what topic will we discuss today ?

I think it best if we pick up the Topic of the Devil, Beelzubub, Scratch, or Satan

now I know this is a delicate subject which many people shy from, but if we take a pure Scientific approach to the Devil we can clear somethings up.

normally we would use the Bible in our discussion, but I choose to use Newton`s approach to start.

`` For every force there is a complete equal and opposite force ``

a fundamental law of physics

When Einstein said God does not play dice with the Universe, we might use the supposition that the Devil tries too.

and here in this article about a mother using her daughters for prostituion is a perfect example of the influence of the Devil, or the Evil one.

Good - Evil, Love - Hate

since 99% of people in the World believe in God, then it stands to reason they must also except a belief in the Devil.

now Fuzzy could not God stop all this evil if he wanted ?
I think that he can and eventually will stop the Devil when the purposes of God have been accomplished, and all the family of man have been rewarded according to their deeds. that is my belief.

sincerely exposing Evil on all sides Bear
Fuzzy
p.s. bad things happen to innocent people, that doen`t make them bad.

[drivelphobe]

The Pope and the church knew full well what has been going on for centuries. Cardinal Mahoney did nothing about it here is Los Angeles, ignoring the whole issue in an attempt to conceal the truth. It is a disgrace of monumental proportion and it is no secret that nuns and priests harbor a large population of queers. The tendency to engage intimately with same gender young, innocents and probably queer or vulnerable, is strong. I consider all homosexuals candidates for abuse. Because clergy have such close relationships with young students, it is an open door to manipulation. This is a protected hunting ground for child abusers.

This has been a giant coverup and should be prosecuted. My Catholic friends don''t want to discuss this and ignore it, refusing to accept it. My how wonderful religion is.

[wardoglrs]

You what is it with these people in power and there life is lived like there so full of themselves the way they dress and roll out the red carpet and get specialize treatment that they should be held in high esteem. that there money is there righteous proof of honor and you should praise them and look up to them as gods or something'' there just humans and they need to come down to earth and get fricken real with the rest of us. Enough of this BS.

[gatofeo]

All organized religion, moments after it gains a few members, becomes corrupt. It''s the nature of the human animal. Anyone who expects any organized religion to seek justice for its own wrongdoers is an idiot, and certainly hasn''t followed the history of organized religion for the past 6,000 years or more.
I wish it could be proven that the Pope knew of the worldwide cover-up, so he could be tried in a world court for conspiracy.
I live in Utah. You want to talk about abuses of an organized religion? The Mormon Church owns most of the banks in the American West. It funded Las Vegas in its early days and continues to have a strong presence in Sin City.
Organized religion is a racket, more corrupt than any government.