VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis said Friday he took personal responsibility for the “evil” of priests who raped and molested children, asking forgiveness from victims and saying the church must be even bolder in its efforts to protect the young. It was the first time a pope has taken personal responsibility for the sex crimes of his priests and begged forgiveness.
Francis’ off-the-cuff remarks were the latest sign that he has become sensitized to the gravity of the abuse scandal after coming under criticism from victims’ advocacy groups for a perceived lack of attention to, and understanding of, the toll it has taken on the church and its members.
The evolution began last month when he named four women and an abuse survivor to a sex abuse advisory panel that the Vatican has suggested will address the critical issue of sanctioning bishops who cover up for pedophiles.
Francis delivered the comments to members of the International Catholic Child Bureau, a French Catholic network of organizations that protects children’s rights. Sitting with them in his library Friday, Francis spoke slowly, deliberately and softly in his native Spanish, deviating from his text.
“I feel compelled to take personal responsibility for all the evil that some priests, many — many in number, (although) not in comparison with the totality — to assume personal responsibility and to ask forgiveness for the damage caused by the sexual abuse of the children,” he said.
“The church is aware of this damage,” he continued. “We don’t want to take a step back in dealing with this problem and the sanctions that must be imposed. On the contrary, I think we must be even stronger! You don’t play around with the lives of children.”
No pope has ever taken personal responsibility for the tens of thousands of children who were molested by priests over decades as bishops moved them from parish to parish rather than reporting them to police. PopeJohn Paul II denounced priests who abused children, saying there was no place for them in the priesthood. PopeBenedict XVI expressed sorrow and regret to victims, met with them and even wept with them. But neither ever took personal responsibility for the crimes or begged forgiveness as Francis did.
Last month, Francis named the initial members of a commission to advise him on best practices to combat sexual abuse in the church. Half of the eight members are women and one, Marie Collins, was assaulted by a priest as a child. Collins, who became a well-known activist in the fight for victims’ justice, had previously called on Benedict to ask personal forgiveness for the scandal and those church leaders who put loyalty to the church ahead of the safety of children.
The Vatican has said Collins and the other members will now draft the statutes of the commission and would look into the legal “duties and responsibilities” of church personnel, a suggestion that they might take up the critical question of disciplining complicit bishops. Church law provides for sanctions if a bishop is negligent in carrying out his duties, but to date no bishop has been disciplined for protecting an abuser.
Though unclear, Francis’ comments about the “sanctions that must be imposed” could be a reference to the need to hold bishops accountable.
Francis named the commission members in March after coming under fire for taking no action since the commission itself was announced in December. Victims groups also have been irked that he hasn’t met with survivors and recently told a newspaper that the church had been unfairly attacked for its abuse record. His defensive tone, coupled with the perceived languishing of the commission, led survivors and church commentators to question whether he “got it” on sex abuse.
The main U.S. victim’s group, SNAP, said it was waiting for more.
“We beg the world’s Catholics: Be impressed by deeds, not words,” said SNAP’s outreach director Barbara Dorris in a statement. “Until the pope takes decisive action that protects kids, be skeptical and vigilant.”
Francis comments during the closed audience were reported in part by Vatican Radio, and Vatican Television excluded them entirely in its initial edit of the audience. The full quote was obtained after The Associated Press requested video of the full comments from Vatican Television.
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Mayra Pertossi in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.
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“…the church must be even bolder in its efforts to protect the young…”
Protecting the vulnerable is a worthy cause. In the case of a church obsessed with children and fetuses, I’m not sure advocating boldness is the right tone. I suspect that if one were to ask the children and fetuses, they’d say something like “It would be a big help if you stayed the hell away.”
I have responded to this issue elsewhere, and won’t repeat that discussion beyond reiterating that the notion of asking for forgiveness strikes me as raising a number of questions, especially in the absence of any clear articulation of an understanding of why it might be difficult for someone we have injured to forgive us, let alone acknowledgement of the possible negative consequences of someone (especially an individual with the symbolic significance of a Pope) asking us for forgiveness when the echoes of our injury may still be playing an active and often crippling role in our experience of almost everything in our life, but most particularly impacting upon our relationship with anyone who is associated with those who have inflicted our injuries upon us.
I have no problem with someone striving to earn forgiveness, especially by seeking an understanding of the scope, depth, and other significance of the injuries they have caused to all those affected by their actions, including not just primary, but secondary, and other victims, and seeking to redress to the extent possible, those injuries. That kind of a quest can benefit everyone.
I also recognize the healing and liberating value of bestowing forgiveness upon someone who has injured us, but that has to come in the fulness of time and only after the achievement of considerable self-examination and insight into the nature of ourselves, and a clearer perspective on the nature and full significance of the injuries we have experienced. To be granted any earlier reduces the likelihood that it will be freely bestowed. And, if it is not freely bestowed, of what value is it?
But I would caution anyone to think more than twice about asking for forgiveness lest they repeat, and/or, renew injury to others, in their quest to seek benefit for themselves, and/or, those they represent. And how is that different from the original abuse?