Pope meets abuse victims at end of trip to Australia

Associated Press , Sydney, Australia | Mon, 07/21/2008 10:55 AM | World

Pope Benedict XVI met privately on Monday with Australians who were sexually abused as children by priests, ending a pilgrimage to the country with a gesture of contrition and concern over a scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic church.

The pontiff held prayers and spoke with four representatives of abuse victims - two men and two women - in the last hours of his 9-day visit to Australia to attend the church's global youth festival.

The abuse scandal was a sour undertone to the trip for World Youth Day, which is supposed to be a celebration of faith that inspires a new generation.

On Saturday, Benedict delivered a forthright apology for the scandal, saying he was "deeply sorry" for the victims' suffering. But victims said this was not enough, and demanded that Benedict do more to provide financial compensation and psychological help for them.

The Vatican did not give details of the conversations between the pope and the victims he met for about one hour on Monday "as an expression of his ongoing pastoral concern for those who have been abused by members of the church."

"He listened to their stories and offered them consolation," a Vatican statement said. "Assuring them of his spiritual closeness, he promised to continue to pray for them, their families and all victims.

"Through this paternal gesture, the holy father wished to demonstrate again his deep concern for all victims of sexual abuse," it said.

The pope, who has made trying to repair damage caused by the scandal one of the themes of his papacy, held a similar meeting with clergy abuse victims in the United States during a visit there in April.

Benedict's pilgrimage to Australia was his furthest journey yet of his three-year papacy, and one intended to inspire a new generation of faithful while trying to overcome the dark chapter for his church from the sex abuse scandal.

Summing up his message, Benedict told young pilgrims at a Mass on Sunday that a "spiritual desert" was spreading throughout the world and challenged them to shed the greed and cynicism of their time to create a new age of hope.

The Vatican said some 350,000 faithful from almost 170 countries packed the Randwick race track - many of them camping out in sleeping bags in the mild chill of the Australian winter - to hear the pope whose words were also heard by a global television audience.

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |