Update: Archbishop Ganswein says abuse crisis is church's 9/11
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IMAGE: CNS photo/Stefano Rellandini, ReutersBy Carol GlatzROME (CNS) -- The concern of now-retired Pope BenedictXVI and the promises made by the majority of church leaders were not able tostop the evil of clerical sexual abuse, which has been the 9/11 of the CatholicChurch, the retired pope's personal secretary said.Even if the "catastrophe" of abuse does notfall on one particular date, but rather extends over "so many days andyears" and has claimed "countless victims," Archbishop GeorgGanswein said, today, in the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report,"the Catholic Church is looking -- full of dismay -- at its own9/11." Speaking during a book presentation in Rome Sept. 11, ArchbishopGanswein, who is also prefect of the papal household, said, "I don't meanto compare the victims or the number of abuses concerning the Catholic Churchwith the 2,996 innocent people in all who lost their lives Sept. 11.""No one, so far, has attacked the church of Christwith airlines full of passenge...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Stefano Rellandini, Reuters
By Carol Glatz
ROME (CNS) -- The concern of now-retired Pope Benedict
XVI and the promises made by the majority of church leaders were not able to
stop the evil of clerical sexual abuse, which has been the 9/11 of the Catholic
Church, the retired pope's personal secretary said.
Even if the "catastrophe" of abuse does not
fall on one particular date, but rather extends over "so many days and
years" and has claimed "countless victims," Archbishop Georg
Ganswein said, today, in the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report,
"the Catholic Church is looking -- full of dismay -- at its own
9/11."
Speaking during a book presentation in Rome Sept. 11, Archbishop
Ganswein, who is also prefect of the papal household, said, "I don't mean
to compare the victims or the number of abuses concerning the Catholic Church
with the 2,996 innocent people in all who lost their lives Sept. 11."
"No one, so far, has attacked the church of Christ
with airlines full of passengers. St. Peter's Basilica is still standing"
as are other symbolic churches in the Western world, he said, according to news
reports.
"And yet, the news coming from America that recently
informed us about how many souls have been irreparably and mortally wounded by
priests of the Catholic Church, gives us a message (that is) even more terrible
than if there had been news that all the churches in Pennsylvania had suddenly
collapsed together with the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception in Washington," he said.
Having mentioned the basilica, the archbishop said he was
reminded "as if it were yesterday" of when he accompanied Pope
Benedict there April 16, 2008. The pope, who also visited New York on that trip, gave a lengthy speech to the nation's bishops at the shrine.
In the portion of his talk dedicated to the sexual abuse
of minors, Pope Benedict "tried poignantly to shake the bishops assembled from
all over the United States," the archbishop said.
Quoting from the pope's text, the archbishop recalled how
the pope spoke about "the deep shame" caused by the sexual abuse of
minors by priests and "the enormous pain that your communities have
suffered when clerics have betrayed their priestly obligations and duties by
such gravely immoral behavior."
But that talk, Archbishop Ganswein said, was
"evidently in vain, as we see today. The cry of the Holy Father did not
succeed in holding back the evil nor did the formal assurances and the verbal
commitments by a great part of the hierarchy."
Archbishop Ganswein has worked with the retired pope since
1996, first serving on the staff of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith and later becoming then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's personal secretary in
2003.
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IMAGE: CNS photo/Alexandre Meneghini, ReutersBy David AgrenCIUDAD HIDALGO, Mexico (CNS) -- At this normally bustling border crossing between Mexico and Guatemala, Central American migrants -- part of a caravan that set out Jan. 15 from San Pedro Sula, Honduras -- sat patiently on folding chairs in the shade. Mexican immigration officials distributed bottles of water, while members of the navy served meals of simple stew and slices of white bread.When their names were read from a list, they proceeded to pick up one-year humanitarian visas, which allow them to freely travel through Mexico, work in the country and claim social benefits such as health care and education."I didn't know they'd give us a visa," said Josue Giron, 22, a welder from Honduras, who fled with the caravan after not being able make extortion payments."We didn't believe it," he added, pointing out that police in Honduras and border officials in Guatemala tried to stop the caravan's progress. &qu...
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IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul HaringBy Junno Arocho EstevesABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM PANAMA (CNS) -- The primary goal of the Vatican's February summit on clerical sexual abuse and child protection is to help bishops understand the urgency of the crisis, Pope Francis said.During a news conference with journalists Jan. 27 on his flight to Rome from Panama, the pope said the presidents of the world's bishops' conferences have been called to the Feb. 21-24 meeting at the Vatican to be "made aware of the tragedy" of those abused by members of the clergy."I regularly meet with people who have been abused. I remember one person -- 40 years old -- who was unable to pray," he said. "It is terrible, the suffering is terrible. So first, they (the bishops) need to be made aware of this."The pope's international Council of Cardinals suggested the summit after realizing that some bishops did not know how to address or handle the crisis on their own, he said."We felt...
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IMAGE: CNS photo/Chaz MuthBy Rhina GuidosPANAMA CITY (CNS) -- Just before leaving the physical and human warmth of Panama Jan. 27, Pope Francis stopped to thank the thousands of official volunteers, young and old, gathered at the capital city's Rommel Fernandez Stadium to tell them that they had just participated in an event similar to one that took place early in Christianity. In their case, they didn't just multiply food, he said."You could have easily chosen to do other things, but you wanted to be involved, to give your best to making possible the miracle of the multiplication, not only of loaves, but also hope," he said, telling the volunteers to go out into the world and make that attitude contagious. "We need to multiply that hope."Volunteers at Panama's World Youth Day showed it was possible to renounce one's interests in favor of others, the pope said."You made a commitment," he said. "Thank you."On stage, before the pope spoke, Bar...
