Pope Benedict XVI will apologize to victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests during his visit this week to Sydney for World Youth Day, as half a million pilgrims take part in the largest event Australia has hosted.
“It is essential for the church to reconcile, to prevent, to help and also to see guilt in this problem,” the 81-year-old pontiff told reporters during his 20-hour flight. This will be the “essential content” of the apology.
The German-born pope, who was greeted by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd when he arrived on Sunday, addressed the issue during a visit to the US in April, where some had criticized the Vatican’s reluctance to confront child abuse.
Australian support group Broken Rites says more than 3,500 people have sought its help over the past two decades and are demanding the pontiff meets victims this week.
The pope is resting at a private retreat until Thursday, when he will ride by boat through Sydney Harbour to greet pilgrims and join the World Youth Day celebrations. Demonstrators are planning to protest the Catholic Church’s stance on homosexuality, abortion and birth control, while civil rights campaigners challenge police powers to fine activists A$5,500 (US$5,320) if they “annoy” pilgrims during the event.
“We welcome the Catholic youth to Sydney, but we are peacefully protesting the pope’s conservative policies,” said Rachel Evans of the NotoPope Coalition, which plans to hand out free condoms to pilgrims. “The state government’s response is draconian. We have the right to express ourselves and will not be intimidated.”
The abuse issue captured headlines last week as the leader of the Catholic Church in Australia acknowledged mishandling allegations of sexual assault by a priest more than 20 years ago.
Cardinal George Pell announced a panel would review the case involving a former church education coordinator, who says he was abused by a priest in 1982 when he was aged 29.
The pope’s apology will be “welcomed, but must come with further action,” Chris MacIsaac of Broken Rites said by telephone yesterday.
The church must stop acting in a “corporate and cold-hearted manner” and make it easier for allegations of abuse to be heard in court.
World Youth Day was established by Pope John Paul II in 1986 as an annual event to reach out to the next generation of Catholics. It is celebrated at diocesan level every Palm Sunday, and every two to three years is taken to an international host city, where pilgrims take part in a weeklong series of prayer meetings and teaching sessions.
About 225,000 pilgrims, 2,000 clergy and 700 cardinals and bishops are registered to attend this year, as more than 3,000 international media representatives cover the event.
About 26 percent of Australia’s 21.3 million people described themselves as Catholic in the most recent census, carried out in 2001. As many as 500,000 people are set to attend the final mass at the city’s Royal Randwick Racecourse on Sunday.
Pilgrims followed a 3.8m cross weighing 40kg through central Sydney yesterday. The cross, which once stood near the main altar in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, has traveled around Australia for the past 12 months. It will form the backdrop of tomorrow’s mass that will open the World Youth Day event.
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