When Pope Benedict XVI makes an official visit to a country, journalists accompany him on his airplane, and the Holy Father takes the opportunity to hold an impromptu press conference. These events often make news, as in the press conference on his way to Brazil, in which Pope Benedict XVI supported automatic excommunication for Mexican lawmakers who had voted for a bill legalizing abortion.
Strangely, though, the secular media paid little attention to a rather interesting exchange during the Holy Father's press conference on his way to Portugal on Tuesday, May 11, 2010. This lack of attention is all them more remarkable considering that it concerned the only Catholic topic that the media seems interested in these days: clerical sexual abuse.
Here's how the Vatican Information Service reported the exchange in a press release on May 12:
The third question put to the Pope concerned the significance of the apparitions of Fatima and whether the third secret, apart from referring to the shooting of John Paul II, also referred to the Church's suffering for the sexual abuse of minors."Apart from the great vision of the Pope's suffering, which we can primarily ascribe to Pope John Paul II", said Pope Benedict, the apparitions "indicate events of the future of the Church, which develop and are revealed little by little. Thus it is true that, apart from the moment indicated by the vision, we see the need for a passion of the Church, a passion naturally reflected in the person of the Pope, but the Pope stands for the Church and thus it is the sufferings of the Church that are being announced" [emphasis mine].
"As for the novelties we can discover in this message today", he went on, "we may see that attacks against the Pope and the Church do not only come from outside; rather, the sufferings of the Church come from inside the Church, from the sin that exists in the Church [emphasis mine]. This was always common knowledge, but today we see it in truly terrifying form: the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from external enemies, but is born of sin within the Church [emphasis mine]. Thus the Church has a profound need to relearn penance, to accept purification, to learn forgiveness but also the need for justice. Forgiveness does not replace justice" [emphasis mine].
These are the strongest and most direct remarks from Pope Benedict XVI since the media firestorm over decades-old allegations of clerical sexual abuse kicked off in the final weeks of Lent. And even though they clearly do what the media has argued that the Holy Father has failed to do—take responsibility for the scandal, in a "the buck stops here" way, while acknowledging the source of sinfulness inside the Church—the media has remained strangely silent.
Where are the headlines that say, "Pope Says Sin Exists in Church"; "Pope: Forgiveness Does Not Replace Justice"; "Church Must Relearn Penance, Pope Declares"? The lack of reporting is perhaps the most obvious proof that the attacks on the Holy Father in recent months were not about justice but about undermining both his personal authority and the teaching authority of the Catholic Church.
Mr. Richert, don’t be surprised the secular media gave that interview a black-out. That is exactly what the Catholic haters do not want to hear. That the Church is aware where secular media is coming from in the present furore. The Pope hit them with the unvarnished Truth. Our so humble and Holy Father caught them totally unawares and they had to become mum. The secular media and its avid followers hate the Truth they can’t accept that Christ’s Church will triumph until the end of time. Remember, during every Lenten and Easter Seasons, there always comes up something dramatic against the Catholic Church. Be it denial of Jesus’ Resurection, His Divinity. All manner of muck is dug up and thrown at the Church.
This is the Season when Satan is forced to accept that Jesus defeated Him for ever on the Cross. He, therefore, angrily comes up with the most virulent attack on His Church.
But we Catholics know how to deal with Satan. We pray for our Church and ask God to rejuvenate it, cleanse it and make is Holy as Her Bridegroom is Holy. Soon, these attacks will become boring and the secular media will turn to something else more exciting. The Pentecost is just a few days’ away and the Holy Spirit will work wonders for Christ’s Bride.
An excellent commentary, as usual.
Scott,
Thank you for sharing the remarks made recently by Pope Benedict XVI. I agree the media is wrong to not have shared that with the public. It is appropriate to hold one accountable for their actions or decisions, but it is also inappropriate to not acknowledge a persons effort to do the right thing.
I’m just guessing, but I think the media was looking for specific words like “I’m sorry for” and waiting to see if Pope Benedict XVI’s actions reflect his words. However, that is no excuse for not acknowledging the first public steps in resolving this issue of clerical sexual abuse.
There will ALWAYS be sin in the Church for that is why Jesus, the ONLY one without sin, took on humanity and suffered and died on a cross. Forgiveness is paramount and sometimes more important than Justice. Jesus was innocent yet He went to extremes to Forgive our sins. Justice is important in that people need to be held accountable and so the healing process, for the wronged and the persecuter, can begin.
Can you tell me what media was present for the Holy Father’s press conference? They too need to be held accountable.
Thank you,
Nancy
Out here on the Left Coast, the L.A. Times has joined the N.Y. Times in the jihad against Pope Benedict. As usual, they’re just copycatting the N.Y. Times.
They also see that their good hippy dippy buddy, Cardinal Mahony, is leaving, to be replaced by a much better and more orthodox man, Archbishop Jose Gomez. Maybe some of the L.A. Times’ beloved pro-abort politicians will be excommunicated. Probably not. But it’s a possibility.
The two Timeses and the rest of the Old Media are burned out and dying. The perfect Old Media reporter was the NY Times’ Walter Duranty, who excused Stalin’s mass murders and show trials. And all the Old Media defend the mass murder of abortion.
After all we have been through, it’s wonderful to see the Church rejuvenating herself. As the Mass begins:
Introibo ad altare Dei
Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam.
I shall go to the altar of God
To God, the joy of my youth.
Hello–I find your analysis bizarre and beside the point. First of all, the Pope’s comments remain evasive at best; he is hardly specific to what types of sin he is talking about. Second, it is one thing to say that “forgiveness does not replace justice.” It is quite another to enact justice — something which there is evidence that the Pope has, in fact, actively blocked allowing to happen in the past. Will he allow it now? Will there be transparency? Victims are not asking for secrecy? Will their desires that the cloak be removed be allowed? Whose needs and voices will be heard? The *Pope* is not the victim, but is in a position of power and seems to be enabling perpetrators.
I am a Catholic. But this episode is un-Christian and I will not defend it.
In the Third Secret of Fatima, according to those who have read the entire message, it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy will start inside the Church hierarchy itself. Our beloved Pope has read the entire Third Secret, and thus he already knew this full and well, which is why he says what he did, even though the full Third Secret has not yet been completely revealed to the public. But as Sister Lucy said over and over — and what Pope Benedict is reiterating here — do not wait for the full revelation. Start now! Repent, believe, pray the rosary, and offer sacrifices for the love of Jesus, conversion of sinners, and reparation for sins committed against Mary’s Immaculate Heart. The Pope is strong and he knows he will have to suffer what he is now suffering. Let’s keep praying for him. End of sermon.
I agree with Michael,pray for the Pope to be strong in the Churches time of need for a strong leader. Although I do think that the Pope should take a stronger stand on those in our church that hurt the children.
No. The answer is not contained in a vision or a rosary prayer. The answer is in contrition — true contrition — and transparency. The Pope cannot even bring himself to say the phrase “sexual abuse.” This is unacceptable.
Jesus did not turn away from saying difficult things.
The Pope is suffering? Please. The victims are suffering.
End of sermon.
Erica, you seem to have all the answers. Perhaps you would provide us with the “evidence that the Pope has, in fact, actively blocked” justice in the past. So far, every allegation that has been made by the New York Times and others has turned out to have no solid evidence to support it, as I have pointed out at great length here, and others have elsewhere.
“Justice” is not synonymous with “accepting as truthful whatever the media claims to be true” or even with “admitting whatever anyone who claims to be a victim says is true.”
To accept as true things that are, in fact, false, is not justice, but injustice. As is making clearly false claims: e.g., that the Holy Father “seems to be enabling [present tense] perpetrators”—an allegation so outlandish that even the New York Times has not made it.
I cannot understand what “answer” Erica is talking about since I never stated any question. And it’s hard to believe that one does not regard as suffering what the Holy Father has been subjected to in the media, such things that I will not even name because they are so filthy and disgusting. If this is not suffering, then I better check my dictionary and look up the meaning of the word. Sorry, Erica; I didn’t mean to get you so upset.
What authorizty does the pope have over the priests and bishops??? I know the authority over the Church but what is his authority over the clergy????
The pope may be suffering but its due to the internal sexual abuse, misuse of power and arogance that many priests and bishops have. Who takes control of all of these abuses? Seems to me NO ONE!
I love my Catholic Church, but the church that we belong to right now does not defend what Jesus Christ set out for us. It should not be difficult to take care of all this abused power and authority. The church is like a business no matter what anyone says, a corrupt business with cover-up, deceit and many more things that a big business does for personal gain. Until the church starts running their organization the way Jesus taught… these things will nevere get better. If there is a good God fearing man as our leader and can start removing the evil from our church I would like him to please step forward. Scott, when I read what you wrote to Erica… I felt you were totally disregarding the sexually abused victims out there. It sounded like you felt those that were abused were not telling the truth because nothing has been proven. Yikes!
Char, I know that you read this site faithfully, so I’m sure that you have read many pieces in which I have stated, without hesitation or qualification, that no one doubts that the vast majority of allegations are true.
Unlike the reporters for the New York Times, Reuters, the Los Angeles Times, the AP, etc., however, I have been covering this scandal for almost a decade now (my first article on it was in 2002). And I know, from firsthand experience covering it, that sometimes allegations are made that are untrue.
What Erica seems to believe is that any allegation, made by any person or any news organization, is true until proved false. That’s simply not the case, and it’s a perversion of justice to believe it.
Here in the Diocese of Rockford (IL), within the space of three years, two allegations were made that deserved a lot more scrutiny than any news organization (other than my own) gave them. One has proved almost certainly to be false (indeed, the courts immediately threw out the most outlandish charge, because there simply was no way it could possibly be true, though the media reported it as “fact”). The other may be true in certain particulars, but I, through weeks of research, uncovered evidence that showed that there was much more to the story than the other media were willing to admit.
Indeed, some of that evidence had been published years earlier in our local daily newspaper. Yet that same paper reported as “fact” allegations that were severely compromised by the evidence that they themselves had published. And when I called this to their attention, and we published the full story, what did they do?
Nothing. Because the evidence that they had published in the past contradicted the story they were running at that time.
The lawyers, particularly Jeffrey Anderson and his firm, who have made countless millions prosecuting civil cases against the Catholic Church have so strongly encouraged people to come forward that, sadly, some are making allegations that clearly aren’t true.
Such people are themselves mocking the true victims, in the pursuit of cold, hard cash.
That’s what I mean when I write:
In the specific case of Pope Benedict XVI, people such as Erica continue to maintain that any allegation made by the New York Times, et al., is true, even when I and others have shown that the very evidence that, for instance, the Times has put forward exonerates the Holy Father.
Something is driving this media frenzy, but it is not a desire for true justice for true victims. If it were, the media would be applauding the one man who has done the most to clean up this mess and to ensure that it does not happen again in the future: Pope Benedict XVI.
Char, there is, and he did. His name is Joseph Ratzinger, and after years of lobbying, in 2002, he succeeded in having Pope John Paul II transfer authority for all such cases to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which he headed up. Since then, 3,000 cases have been handled by the CDF.
Under Cardinal Ratzinger’s guidance, that same year the U.S. bishops passed their Charter concerning sexual abuse. In 2009, exactly six cases of Catholic clerical sexual abuse were reported in the entire United States.
Six.
Yet you’re still looking for someone else to solve the problem?
I hear what you are saying Scott but there have been years and year and years of cover up for so many things, not just the sex scandal. I know there are some false alligations and there will continue to be until there is a major change in this church!
I have asked a couple of writers that i subscribe to “What authority does the pope have over bishops and priests?” No one seems to want to answer that question.
I know many people that have a beef with this church regarding the misuse of their power and rarely does anyone get removed from their duties. Grave sin calls for excommunication. Why aren’t we seeing this more? The priest from India who’s bishop did not honor the popes request???
This pope needs to do more if the Catholic Church is going to gain any more respect and to have more people come back to their roots.
You know from what I’ve written I am a very frustrated catholic. I have first hand experience of the lack of respect that our archidocese shows for the congregation. Where does this come from? I can’t help but believe that it comes from their leadership which is the succession of the popes. This situation like the rotting of our morals and values in this country are completely out of our hands (lay people) and that is extremely frustrating.
What Erica believes in absolutely is transparency, which is the only way for truth to come out. Secrecy and hiding only lead to suspicion and the promulgation of untruth — which has been going on for decades.
Further, as you said, Scott, if the vast majority of these allegations are true, then the Church does not deserve the “benefit of the doubt” in these cases. Victims do not need to “prove” their case before they receive comfort and support from us — the Church itself, the people. They need love, grace, and healing. I wish Benedict would put this first.
Erica, have you ever held a job in which you were in contact with minors? If so, would you have responded the same way–arguing that allegations do not need to be proved, because the vast majority of them are true–if you were falsely accused of sexual abuse? Or would you actually have defended yourself?
Scott if it took years for Cardinal Ratzinger “years” to convince the previous pope to take action on this charter then it was known to Pope John Paul ll. Silence is the key of the church of sexual abuse. Like secrets in a dysfuntional family. Was this charter limited to the US? Europe is rampant. Was their a retraction from the church to the media?
Scott — precisely what you’re doing to me is what I take as the problem with the Church’s response to the abuse scandal. There is an attack against anyone who suggests there is a problem with the response. “Have you ever…” I don’t need to defend myself or throw up personal information about myself on this web site.
A key problem with the Church and its response is a lack of transparency. Yes, one problem is that priests are often dealing with confidential issues with people. Nonetheless, the Church has to have better workarounds that acknowledge that terrible things have happened. Defending the past, or throwing up a “some people have lied or distorted the truth” counter argument misses the point.
The point is that terrible things have happened; souls have been ravaged; and yet mostly the same system is in place. To me this is unacceptable. When Jesus walked the earth, his focus was on the hurting, not on himself and his own suffering. This is why I reject the idea that we should focus on the Pope’s suffering.
He should invite transparency, a come and see approach.
Erica, I’m not saying you have to defend yourself. I’m asking you what you would do if you were falsely accused. You have suggested, in almost as many words, that the Church should not be concerned with the truth of allegations; they should simply accept all of them in the name of “transparency” (whatever that means).
I am suggesting that a culture of secrecy is not helpful in ending the allegations and healing the church. This is why we like, for example, governments to have “sunshine” laws which allow the media access to what is happening. Secrets usually cause more harm than good.
This is why most college professors hold office hours with their doors open, for example. So it is hard for students to make false allegations. This is why doctors have nurses in the room with them when they see patients. This is why therapists are required, by law, to keep copious notes of sessions with clients. This is transparency. This is the opposite of secrecy. The church misuses the word “private” to mean “secret.”
So, to respond to your query, were I ever so mis-accused, it would be horrifying. But, if I were a member of an organization like the Church, I would hope for some system in place, like I have just described, which would have protected me in some way.
Come. Look. See. Know. You seem like a smart guy. I find it disingenuous when you suggest you don’t know what I mean by transparency.
There is one soverign individual on this thread. One person who can reason and she is Catholic herself. The rest are all guilty of lack of reasoning and ability in standing up for others who need defending.
This terrible death I see in people…. its what is most disturbing.
Erica let these people be you’re wasting time with a few rambling individuals who have no sense.
I AM
I am awake.
What appears to me is a fanatical concern about the victi
without consideration of all the facts. At the times of these scandals, there was no laws which provided relief, which is the definition of law. Plus the fad of counselling was the course of action in the 60s & 70s and up to just recently. And one persons complaint about the hierarchy is I believe that persons true complaint rather than the victims of sexual abuse, which appears to be an afterthought.
Now i will reveal the third part of the secret;
This part is the apostasy in the Church!
Our Lady showed us a vision of some-
one who i describe as the ‘ Pope ‘, standing in front of a praising
multitude.
But there was a difference with a real Pope, the evil
look, this one had eyes of evil.
Then after a few moments we saw the same Pope entering
a church, but this church was like the church of hell, there is no
way to describe the ugliness of this place, it seemed like a fortress made
of gray cement, with broken angles and windows like eyes, the-
re was a beak on top of the building.
We then looked up at Our Lady who said to us
you have seen the apostasy in the Church, this message can be opened by The Holy
Father, but must be announced after Pius XII and before 1960.
During the pontificate of John Paul II the cornerstone from Peter’s tomb
must be removed and transferred to Fatima.
Because the Dogma of faith is not preserved in Rome, her
authority will be removed and given to Portugal.
The cathedral of Rome must be destroyed and a new one built in
Fatima.
If 69 weeks after this command is announced Rome continues it’s abomi-
nation, the city will be destroyed.
Our Lady told us this is written, Daniel 9 24-25 and Mathew 21 42-44