The pope admitted on Tuesday that the Catholic Church was entirely responsible for the child abuse scandal that has spread across Europe, silencing conspiracy theorists in the church as he arrived in Portugal to be met by hundreds of protesters distributing condoms.
In his most strongly worded condemnation of the priests involved in pedophile cases to date, Pope Benedict said the Church’s greatest enemy was “sins from within,” not the campaigners who have exposed its culture of laxity and secrecy.
“The greatest persecution of the church doesn’t come from enemies on the outside but is born from the sins within the Church ... The Church needs to profoundly relearn penitence, accept purification, learn forgiveness but also justice,” Benedict told journalists traveling with him to Portugal.
PHOTO: EPA
It was a first sign that the pope was prepared to stop Church officials trying to blame the abuse scandal on a supposed conspiracy hatched by outsiders, including pro-choice and pro-gay marriage groups.
Despite the Vatican’s initially defensive response to reports of hundreds of cases of clerical abuse across Europe, Benedict recently pledged the Church would do all it could to protect children and ensure abusive priests face justice. He has already accepted the resignations of several bishops who either admitted they had molested young people or covered up for priests who did.
In some countries, such as Spain, the Church itself has begun to report suspected cases of sexual abuse to the police.
In Portugal on Tuesday the pope was greeted by tens of thousands of followers lining the streets of Lisbon, alongside a protest against the Vatican’s refusal to sanction the use of condoms as a way of fighting HIV and AIDS.
The protest began as a modest Facebook group only seven weeks ago but has since become a nationwide campaign backed by thousands of mostly young people in one of the most devoutly Roman Catholic countries in Europe.
“We never imagined that we would one day have 14,500 people supporting us,” the campaigners said on Tuesday after their Facebook group, formed on March 20, mushroomed into a full-scaled protest against the Vatican’s stance on AIDS.
Hundreds of those supporters turned up at 22 distribution points around Lisbon and the northern city of Porto and handed out about 28,000 free condoms.
“Millions of people are still dying around the world because of this virus,” the campaigners said.
“Our initiative is not an affront to the pope ... AIDS is not a question of religion, but of public health,” said Diogo Figueira, one of the organizers.
The pope’s visit comes as Portugal, where 90 percent of people identify themselves as Roman Catholic, increasingly turns its back on the Vatican.
Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who met the pope on Tuesday, is expected to shortly sign a bill passed by parliament that will make Portugal the sixth European country to permit gay marriages.
Portugal’s center-left Socialist government has also introduced a law allowing a judge to grant a divorce even in instances when one spouse is against it. The same government, led by Prime Minister Jose Socrates, passed a law in 2007 permitting abortion.
Benedict sharply criticized the abortion law on Tuesday, saying public officials must give “essential consideration” to issues that impact human life.The Guardian, LONDON
The pope admitted on Tuesday that the Catholic Church was entirely responsible for the child abuse scandal that has spread across Europe, silencing conspiracy theorists in the church as he arrived in Portugal to be met by hundreds of protesters distributing condoms.
In his most strongly worded condemnation of the priests involved in pedophile cases to date, Pope Benedict said the Church’s greatest enemy was “sins from within,” not the campaigners who have exposed its culture of laxity and secrecy.
“The greatest persecution of the church doesn’t come from enemies on the outside but is born from the sins within the Church ... The Church needs to profoundly relearn penitence, accept purification, learn forgiveness but also justice,” Benedict told journalists traveling with him to Portugal.
It was a first sign that the pope was prepared to stop Church officials trying to blame the abuse scandal on a supposed conspiracy hatched by outsiders, including pro-choice and pro-gay marriage groups.
Despite the Vatican’s initially defensive response to reports of hundreds of cases of clerical abuse across Europe, Benedict recently pledged the Church would do all it could to protect children and ensure abusive priests face justice. He has already accepted the resignations of several bishops who either admitted they had molested young people or covered up for priests who did.
In some countries, such as Spain, the Church itself has begun to report suspected cases of sexual abuse to the police.
In Portugal on Tuesday the pope was greeted by tens of thousands of followers lining the streets of Lisbon, alongside a protest against the Vatican’s refusal to sanction the use of condoms as a way of fighting HIV and AIDS.
The protest began as a modest Facebook group only seven weeks ago but has since become a nationwide campaign backed by thousands of mostly young people in one of the most devoutly Roman Catholic countries in Europe.
“We never imagined that we would one day have 14,500 people supporting us,” the campaigners said on Tuesday after their Facebook group, formed on March 20, mushroomed into a full-scaled protest against the Vatican’s stance on AIDS.
Hundreds of those supporters turned up at 22 distribution points around Lisbon and the northern city of Porto and handed out about 28,000 free condoms.
“Millions of people are still dying around the world because of this virus,” the campaigners said.
“Our initiative is not an affront to the pope ... AIDS is not a question of religion, but of public health,” said Diogo Figueira, one of the organizers.
The pope’s visit comes as Portugal, where 90 percent of people identify themselves as Roman Catholic, increasingly turns its back on the Vatican.
Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who met the pope on Tuesday, is expected to shortly sign a bill passed by parliament that will make Portugal the sixth European country to permit gay marriages.
Portugal’s center-left Socialist government has also introduced a law allowing a judge to grant a divorce even in instances when one spouse is against it. The same government, led by Prime Minister Jose Socrates, passed a law in 2007 permitting abortion.
Benedict sharply criticized the abortion law on Tuesday, saying public officials must give “essential consideration” to issues that impact human life.
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