Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Francis has told abuse survivors that ‘despicable actions’ caused by clergy have been hidden for too long and had been ‘camouflaged with a complicity’ that cannot be explained or tolerated.

Speaking at Mass in the chapel of his residence on Monday, the Holy Father said that ‘there is no place in the Church’s ministry for those who commit these abuses, and I commit myself not to tolerate harm done to a minor by any individual, whether a cleric or not.’

“All bishops must carry out their pastoral ministry with the utmost care in order to help foster the protection of minors, and they will be held accountable,” he added.

Survivors

Six men and women—two each from Ireland, Britain and Germany—attended the Mass. The Pope received them afterwards at his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

Pope Francis praised the courage of abuse survivors for speaking out about what happened to them, saying that telling the truth ‘was a service of love, since for us it shed light on a terrible darkness in the life of the Church.’ The Pope said the scandal of abuse caused him ‘deep pain and suffering.’

“So much time hidden, camouflaged with a complicity that cannot be explained,” he said, calling sex abuse a ‘crime and grave sin,’ that was made even worse when carried out by clergy.

“This is what causes me distress and pain at the fact that some priests and bishops, by sexually abusing minors, violated the innocence of children and their own vocation to God,” he said.

“It is like a sacrilegious cult, because these boys and girls had been entrusted to the priestly charism in order to be brought to God. And those people sacrificed them to the idol of concupiscence,” the Pope said.

The Pope asked God ‘for the grace to weep, the grace for the church to weep and make reparations for her sons and daughters who betrayed their mission, who abused innocent persons and left life-long scars.’ He told the men and women sitting in the pews that God loved them and he prayed that ‘the remnants of the darkness which touched you may be healed.’

Historical moment

It was the first time Pope Francis met directly with a group of victims of clerical abuse, following a tradition begun by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who met with victims for the first time as pope in 2008 during a visit to Washington, DC. The Pope Emeritus subsequently met with other victims during his pastoral visits to Sydney, Malta, Great Britain and Germany.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which Pope Francis established in December, met July 6 at the Vatican, and its members, including Cardinal O’Malley, were also present at the July 7 Mass.

The commission, which currently has eight members, including a survivor of clerical sex abuse, mental health professionals and experts in civil and church law, is tasked with laying out a pastoral approach to helping victims and preventing abuse.

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