While traveling aboard his plane heading to Portugal, Pope Benedict XVI uttered his sternest condemnation of a recent sex scandal, saying that the biggest threat to the Roman Catholic Church comes from “sins inside the church,” and that “forgiveness does not substitute for justice.”
The pontiff referred to widespread disgraceful revelations involving sexual abuse of minors committed by clergy that led to the resignation or suspension of numerous bishops and priests in Ireland, Belgium, and Germany, Pope Benedict’s homeland.
“The church has a profound need to relearn penance, to accept purification, to learn on the one hand forgiveness, but also the necessity of justice,” Pope Benedict added, placing the whole blame for the scandal on the church.
Despite being criticized for not being very active and transparent in battling sexual abuses while serving as a cardinal of Rome and also concerning a case with a pedophile priest while serving as a bishop in Munich, the pope met with victims of sexual mistreatment last month in Malta.
The pontiff sent a condemning letter to Irish priests for the abuses in catholic institutions. Last week, the Vatican took control over the Legionaries of Christ, a Catholic worldwide congregation, after its founder was confirmed to have abused seminary students and fathered a child.
During his forthcoming four-day visit in largely catholic Portugal, which remained intact from the scandal, Pope Benedict XVI said he would mostly pray for the church, “in particular its priests,” and for world peace.
The 83-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church commented on the economic plight of Portugal, where the country is threatened to become one of the next EU states to suffer from huge public debt.
“The events of the last two or three years have demonstrated that the ethical dimension must enter into economic activity,” Benedict said. “Now is the time to see that ethics is not something external but internal to economic rationality and pragmatism.”
The schedule of the pope includes attending a festive open-air mass in Lisbon. On Wednesday the pontiff is expected to honor the landmark Fatima shrine, one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in Europe, situated 70 miles north of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.
There, a huge celebration will be held for the 10th anniversary of the beatification of two of the three children who claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary in 1917. According to the shepherd children, Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco, who were cousins, the Virgin Mary appeared to them six times, the first time on May 13. They believe she professed the end of World War I, the start of World War II, the rise and fall of communism, and another secret, which was disclosed in 2000. It was interpreted to have predicted the suffering of John Paul II during the assassination attempt by Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish national.
Pope Benedict XVI commented that this mystery should not be taken so literally and that it might instead refer to the suffering of the entire Catholic Church.
The pontiff referred to widespread disgraceful revelations involving sexual abuse of minors committed by clergy that led to the resignation or suspension of numerous bishops and priests in Ireland, Belgium, and Germany, Pope Benedict’s homeland.
“The church has a profound need to relearn penance, to accept purification, to learn on the one hand forgiveness, but also the necessity of justice,” Pope Benedict added, placing the whole blame for the scandal on the church.
Despite being criticized for not being very active and transparent in battling sexual abuses while serving as a cardinal of Rome and also concerning a case with a pedophile priest while serving as a bishop in Munich, the pope met with victims of sexual mistreatment last month in Malta.
The pontiff sent a condemning letter to Irish priests for the abuses in catholic institutions. Last week, the Vatican took control over the Legionaries of Christ, a Catholic worldwide congregation, after its founder was confirmed to have abused seminary students and fathered a child.
During his forthcoming four-day visit in largely catholic Portugal, which remained intact from the scandal, Pope Benedict XVI said he would mostly pray for the church, “in particular its priests,” and for world peace.
The 83-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church commented on the economic plight of Portugal, where the country is threatened to become one of the next EU states to suffer from huge public debt.
“The events of the last two or three years have demonstrated that the ethical dimension must enter into economic activity,” Benedict said. “Now is the time to see that ethics is not something external but internal to economic rationality and pragmatism.”
The schedule of the pope includes attending a festive open-air mass in Lisbon. On Wednesday the pontiff is expected to honor the landmark Fatima shrine, one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in Europe, situated 70 miles north of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.
There, a huge celebration will be held for the 10th anniversary of the beatification of two of the three children who claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary in 1917. According to the shepherd children, Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco, who were cousins, the Virgin Mary appeared to them six times, the first time on May 13. They believe she professed the end of World War I, the start of World War II, the rise and fall of communism, and another secret, which was disclosed in 2000. It was interpreted to have predicted the suffering of John Paul II during the assassination attempt by Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish national.
Pope Benedict XVI commented that this mystery should not be taken so literally and that it might instead refer to the suffering of the entire Catholic Church.
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