Abuse Victims

Pope Benedict XVI’s Visit to the USA, 2008 April 15-20

Sexual Abuse Victims Grateful for Pope’s Prayers

 

FROM:        “Dan Frezza” <dan@frezza.org>

To:              <ASSISI-L@LISTSERV.ND.EDU>

DATE:        18 April 2008 19:30 [EDT]

SUBJECT: Abuse Victims Grateful for Pope’s Prayers

 

Abuse Victims Grateful for Pope's Prayers Aide Comments on Private Meeting in D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 18, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's meeting
with victims of sexual abuse by priests can help the Church in the
United States move toward hope, purification and reconciliation, says a
Vatican spokesman.


Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi affirmed this when he gave details about
Thursday's meeting between the Pope and five or six abuse victims from
the Archdiocese of Boston, accompanied by their archbishop, Cardinal
Sean O'Malley. The meeting was held at the apostolic nunciature in
Washington.

"It was a very simple meeting, lived with great discretion," Father
Lombardi said. It was not part of the official program and was not
announced to the press. There were no members of the press in attendance.

"The meeting took place in the chapel of the nunciature and was
essentially a prayer meeting that proceeded in an environment of great
emotion," Father Lombardi added. "First the archbishop said some words
of introduction and then the Holy Father addressed some very sincere and
moving words. Words that were very consistent with what he had already
said in the discourses, but directed to these particular people, who
were in front of him."

Since the beginning of the trip to the United States, the Pontiff has
given attention to the sexual abuse scandal. He has addressed the issue
three times, saying on the plane en route to the United States: "It is a
great suffering for the Church in the United States and for the Church
in general, for me personally."

Father Lombardi went on to explain, "Each one of those present passed
before the Pope, placed their hands in his, and the Pope squeezed them.
Each of them could express, if they had the strength to overcome their
emotion, something of their personal history, and above all of their
hope of being able to live serenely, of being able to find again
serenity, and their lives of faith in the Church."

They also expressed "words of gratitude to the Holy Father, for his
attention and prayer," the spokesman added.

"It was a meeting that lasted a bit more than 20 minutes, but that
certainly left a deep mark on all those present," Father Lombardi
continued. "The Pope assured his prayers now and in the future, not only
for those present in the meeting, but for all the victims of the sexual
abuse.

"Cardinal O'Malley gave the Pope a book in which the names -- just the
first names, not the last names -- of a very large number of victims of
sexual abuse in the archdiocese so that the Holy Father could remember
them in prayer.

"It seems to me that, even if it was a brief and simple meeting, a long
path has been walked, and that from the pages of shame and pain, the
Church in the United States can move to the pages of hope, of
purification, of reconciliation. Hope is precisely the theme with which
the Pope is living these days: 'Christ Our Hope.'"

--
Permission by Zenit to distribute to Assisi-L