Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Benedict XVI has defended the Church’s ‘honest efforts’ to confront the ‘scourge’ of clergy sex abuse, and said its actions could be a positive example for the rest of society.

The Holy Father told bishops from New York in the US last Saturday that abuse and paedophilia affected ‘every institution in society’ not just the Church. The bishops, led by Archbishop Timothy Dolan, were in Rome for their ad limina visit.

History of abuse

Pope Benedict began his talk by recalling his 2008 visit to the US, which he said was aimed at encouraging Catholics in the wake of the sex abuse crisis. He said he wanted to acknowledge the suffering inflicted on victims as well as the Church’s efforts to ensure the safety of children and deal ‘appropriately and transparently with allegations’ of abuse.

“It is my hope that the Church’s conscientious efforts to confront this reality will help the broader community to recognise the causes, true extent and devastating consequences of sexual abuse, and to respond effectively to this scourge which affects every level of society,” he said. “By the same token, just as the Church is rightly held to exacting standards in this regard, all other institutions, without exception, should be held to the same standards.”

The Church in the US has had to deal with numerous cases of clergy abuse of children over the last decade, however, the most high profile case of child abuse in American at present does not involve the Church. Penn State University’s sports coach Jerry Sandusky has been charged with sexually abusing eight boys, and the alleged cover up has led to the departure of university president Graham Spanier.

Papal message

The Holy Father also said he wished the US Bishops to focus primarily on the urgent task of New Evangelisation. He said many of the bishops had shared with him their concern about the ‘grave challenges’ presented by an increasingly secularised society in the United States.

He said it was also interesting to note a widespread worry about the future of democratic society in general, by people who see ‘a troubling breakdown in the intellectual, cultural and moral foundations of social life’ and growing insecurity about the future.

He suggested that the Church could and should have a key role in responding to these deep changes in society.

“Despite attempts to still the Church’s voice in the public square, many people of good will continue to look to Her for wisdom, insight and sound guidance in meeting this far-reaching crisis,” he said. “Immersed in this culture, believers are daily beset by the objections, the troubling questions and the cynicism of a society which seems to have lost its roots, by a world in which the love of God has grown cold in so many hearts.”

The Pope also praised Catholic universities, which he said, should play a leading role in bringing the Gospel to society. Pope Benedict praised those schools that had found ‘a renewed sense of their ecclesial mission’ and shown faithfulness to their Catholic identity.

“Young people have a right to hear clearly the Church’s teaching and, most importantly, to be inspired by the coherence and beauty of the Christian message so that they in turn can instill in their peers a deep love of Christ and His Church,” the Holy Father said.