Pope Pledges to Confront Abuse Crisis Andrew Medichini/Associated Press
Pope Benedict XVI arrived Wednesday for an audience in St. Peter's Square. He told pilgrims and tourists that he had met abuse victims in Malta and “assured them of church action.”
By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO Published: April 21, 2010
VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI, making a rare direct comment on the sexual abuse crisis, promised Wednesday that the Roman Catholic Church would take action to deal with the widening scandal.
During his weekly audience here, Benedict told pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square that he met with abuse victims during a recent trip to Malta and “assured them of church action.”
“I shared their suffering and emotionally prayed with them,” the pope said, describing his visit on Sunday with eight Maltese men who said they had been molested by priests as youths.
After that meeting, the Vatican issued a statement saying that the pope had told the men that the church would investigate the allegations and bring to justice those responsible for the abuse. It would also “implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future,” the statement said.
The pope’s words on Wednesday offered his most forceful public promise since this latest scandal broke a few months ago that the church would confront accusations that it had covered up abuse and failed to take action to punish pedophile priests.
Recently, attention has focused more directly on whether Benedict, before becoming pope, and his direct subordinates acted strongly enough against abusive clergy members.
The abuse scandal in Ireland — which Benedict addressed in a letter last month — continued to reverberate: The Irish Catholic, the country’s largest selling Catholic weekly newspaper, reported that Bishop James Moriarty, who handed in his resignation on Dec. 23, would formally announce on Thursday that Benedict had accepted his departure. Bishop Moriarty and two auxiliary bishops were named in an Irish government report on the mishandling and concealment of cases of priestly abuse.
The newspaper reported that decisions on the two other bishops, Eamonn Walsh and Ray Field, who tendered their resignations on Dec. 24, were pending in the Vatican. Many church experts predict that those resignations will be accepted shortly.
In Rome, Benedict made his latest comments nearly a week after he said during a small Mass at the Vatican that it was necessary for Christians to repent and “to recognize what is wrong in our life.”
Last week, the Vatican issued guidelines urging bishops to report abuse cases to civil authorities when required by local laws.
St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday was filled with papal well-wishers and pilgrims who applauded and shouted, “Hurray for the pope,” as he rode through the crowd in the open vehicle known as the popemobile.
Some of those visitors said they appreciated his reference to the scandal during a long address, in Italian, recounting his pilgrimage to Malta.
But Giuliano Pinazzi, visiting Rome from Verona, said he thought the church might not have “given enough responses so far,” at a time when “people are concerned and feel discomforted.” He said he saw the current crisis as an attack on the papacy. But the church, he added, had been through some tough times in its history.
“They’ll get through this too,” he said, “though it might take some time.”
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