Will Ratzinger Apologize?

[Farsight one]

I don't think the question is so much "will he apologize" as it is "will his apology have any effect".

When the abuse cases in the U.S first popped up, people all over the place demanded an apology from the pope. Then he gave one and then everyone kept on complaining and demanding - this time for him to take action. Now that he has, people STILL complain and demand. They'll only be satisfied if someone manages to turn back time and undo what happened.

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='Farsight one' post='1602909' date='Jul 18 2008, 07:41 PM']I don't think the question is so much "will he apologize" as it is "will his apology have any effect".

When the abuse cases in the U.S first popped up, people all over the place demanded an apology from the pope. Then he gave one and then everyone kept on complaining and demanding - this time for him to take action. Now that he has, people STILL complain and demand. They'll only be satisfied if someone manages to turn back time and undo what happened.[/quote]
Exactly. An apology cannot turn back the clock.

[cappie]

Pope says sorry for church sex abuse

POPE Benedict XVI has apologised to people sexually abused by members of the clergy in Australia.
He raised the issue during a ceremony to consecrate the altar of St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, where the Pope has been participating in World Youth Day (WYD) activities.

"Here I would like to pause to acknowledge the shame which we have all felt as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and religious in this country,'' Pope Benedict said in his homily.

"Indeed I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured and I assure them that, as their pastor, I too share in their suffering.

"These misdeeds, which constitute so grave a betrayal of trust, deserve unequivocal condemnation.

"They have caused great pain, they have damaged the church's witness.''

He called on his audience of 3,400 people, including Sydney Archbishop Cardinal George Pell, bishops, seminarians, and religious and school groups, to work together in ``combatting this evil''.
"Victims should receive compassion and care, and those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice,'' he said.

"It is an urgent priority to promote a safer and more wholesome environment, especially for young people.

"In these days marked by the celebration of World Youth Day, we are reminded of how precious a treasure has been entrusted to us in our young people, and how great a part of the church's mission in this country has been dedicated to their education and care.

"As the church in Australia continues, in the spirit of the gospel, to address effectively this serious pastoral challenge, I join you in praying that this time of purification will bring about healing, reconciliation and ever-greater fidelity to the moral demands of the gospel.''

[Guest MartinLuther21]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1602879' date='Jul 18 2008, 04:46 PM']Yes! An apology is not really meaningful unless you are the one who gave offense.[/quote]
Who was the Head of the Confraternity for the Doctrine of the Faith who set up the protocols for how bishops/archbishops/cardinals handled these cases?

Well I just heard a radio news report that there was an apology at a mass in sydney a few hours ago. So we finally have an apology from a pope for what has happened in Australia. I dont know however if he has acknowledged his own contribution (or the contribution of the bishops) to the problem.

How much compensation is enough? is $AUD50000 ($USD35000 at the time) with non-disclosure conditions enough? Should they have had to spend eight years in court fighting the most expensive, obstructive and time-delaying firm of corporate lawyers in the nation to get reasonable compensation? Pell was quite happy to pay the lawyers more than the victims, and is yet to give a meaningful apology.

Edited July 19, 2008 by MartinLuther21

[let_go_let_God]

But the father of the girls wants them to beg for their forgiveness. It sounds like an apology won't simply be enough for them or for many others.

God bless-
LGLG

[CatherineM]

I was a lawyer long enough to know one thing, Money never makes you whole, it never fixes stuff, and sometimes, it makes things worse. In St. Pete, one of the places that New England dioceses exiled their bad boys to, provided money, but more importantly, set up free counseling for anyone abused in any way by a priest, nun, brother, even catholic school teacher, whether it happened in St. Pete or not.

Even if the Church in Australia sold every thing it owned, and divided it up among every injured person, and the Pope walked through the entire outback in sack cloth and ashes, it wouldn't change what happened. I don't like the view that he seems to be expected to prostrate himself in every country for something that he did not do. There have been a lot of Protestant ministers guilty of the same things, but no one expects Billy Graham or Pat Robertson to spend the next 10 years apologizing.

[Farsight one]

[quote name='MartinLuther21' post='1602995' date='Jul 18 2008, 09:32 PM']Who was the Head of the Confraternity for the Doctrine of the Faith who set up the protocols for how bishops/archbishops/cardinals handled these cases?[/quote]I believe it was Ratzinger, but his "underlings" kept it a secret from him. He found out about the molestation issue when the rest of the world did.

[quote]Well I just heard a radio news report that there was an apology at a mass in sydney a few hours ago. So we finally have an apology from a pope for what has happened in Australia. I dont know however if he has acknowledged his own contribution (or the contribution of the bishops) to the problem.[/quote]You already had an apology, but it wasn't made IN Australia. For some reason apologies don't seem to count to most people unless made in the country in which the offense occurred.

[quote]How much compensation is enough? is $AUD50000 ($USD35000 at the time) with non-disclosure conditions enough? Should they have had to spend eight years in court fighting the most expensive, obstructive and time-delaying firm of corporate lawyers in the nation to get reasonable compensation? Pell was quite happy to pay the lawyers more than the victims, and is yet to give a meaningful apology.[/quote]That depends. What's the average payout to a victim of molestation in Australia?

[Winchester]

[quote name='Didymus' post='1602709' date='Jul 18 2008, 12:25 PM']Why bother trying 'to weed them out' if the problem cannot be remedied?? I'm not saying it will ever be perfect, but there are remedies to the problem.[/quote]
A remedy is a cure. We cannot cure it. We can reduce it, which is what weeding out is for.

[dominicansoul]

What "Ratzinger" (Pope Benedict XVI to me,) has done and is doing is praying for the victims. What else can he do that he hasn't done yet? He has already spoken out against this scandal, and is doing everything he can to prevent such things from happening again. What else can he do but lift these victims up to the Almighty God? From what I see, only God can heal them. Pope Benedict can't.

AS far as Cardinell Pell resigning, that would be a loss for the Church and for Australia. He is the only one who is consistently fighting for orthodoxy and truth in the Church of Australia. Again, you can't punish him for what occurred. We don't know how much of this incident he knew of, and I am pretty sure he would have done something about it had he known about it sooner. You can not just believe everything you read (especially from the media.)

If you were a supervisor over a billion people, and you relied on captains to tell you what was going on in every corner of this vast mass of humanity, how responsible would you be if one of the captains was not sufficient in reporting abuses and such? Certainly the only thing you would be guilty of, is your lack of judgement in placing such a captain in his position. There are several problematic captains in our Church because our Church is not only Divine, but human as well. And don't forget, you are human too, and I'm sure you have plenty of faults to fix.

All we can do is pray for our Church, pray for God to grant peace to these victims and their families. This is what the Pope wants, as I am sure devout Catholics as well. Peace and healing from this awful scandal, and for once and for all people to stop trying to paint the Church as some evil, wicked, conniving group that shuffles pedophiles and homosexual priests from one place to another. That's not what our Church is about. I hope you don't believe that in any instance.

[cappie]

Pope Benedict XVI conducted a Mass with representatives of sexual abuse victims this morning, less than an hour before he was due to take off to return to Rome.

The Pope officiated at the mass with a group representing victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy.

The Pope listen to their harrowing stories and consoled them and assured them of his support and his continuing prayer of their friends and families of the victims

With this gesture the Pope wanted to demonstrate once more his support and sorrow for all those who have been sexually abused around the world at the hands of Catholic priests.

It is understood that the mass was conducted in the chapel of St Marys.

The news if his last-minute gesture was dissimated to the Vatican press corp as they were on a bus to board a Qanats flight back to Rome.

The gesture culminates a hugely successful trip for the Pope and it was clearly an unscheduled mass - but one which can only add to the successful reading of his Australian trip.

The Pope celebrated the mass with four victims - two men and two women - and their supporters.

It was held in a tiny chapel of the chapter house in St Marys. It began at 7am and he was helped in the mass by Cardinal Pell and Archbishop Filoni.

It was a highly emotional meeting and which Pope said conveyed the drama and the sorrow of the victims.

[BG45]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1603042' date='Jul 19 2008, 12:15 AM']Even if the Church in Australia sold every thing it owned, and divided it up among every injured person, and the Pope walked through the entire outback in sack cloth and ashes, it wouldn't change what happened. I don't like the view that he seems to be expected to prostrate himself in every country for something that he did not do. There have been a lot of Protestant ministers guilty of the same things, but no one expects Billy Graham or Pat Robertson to spend the next 10 years apologizing.[/quote]

Indeed, and not just Christians even. Clergy of every religion are at some point guilty of this self-same sin of abuse. I remember a friend finding an article on how a Buddhist monk killed himself when the government of the country he was in came for him after boys he abused came forward. My friend's exact words, censored a bit, "It's not only the *censored* Catholics?!"

[thessalonian]

I think ratzinger will apologize if the opportunity presents itself. But not everything every preist does in the world is his fault. The question is who is going to apolgize for the same crimes protestant pastors have committed of which their are many. If you think Ratzinger has an obligation to apologize then where are the apologies going to come from protestant circles of which there are a vast number of immoral indiscresion. The Baptist council itself in the 90's acknowledged adultery of 11-13% of it's pastors. Who apologizes to husbands and children of these families? Who apologizes for protestants that were in the KKK and for the Lutheran connection to Nazi Germany that nonone speaks about. In the end your question is nonsense.

[dominicansoul]

[quote name='thessalonian' post='1604371' date='Jul 21 2008, 07:45 AM']I think ratzinger will apologize if the opportunity presents itself. But not everything every preist does in the world is his fault. The question is who is going to apolgize for the same crimes protestant pastors have committed of which their are many. If you think Ratzinger has an obligation to apologize then where are the apologies going to come from protestant circles of which there are a vast number of immoral indiscresion. The Baptist council itself in the 90's acknowledged adultery of 11-13% of it's pastors. Who apologizes to husbands and children of these families? Who apologizes for protestants that were in the KKK and for the Lutheran connection to Nazi Germany that nonone speaks about. In the end your question is nonsense.[/quote]


These other "religions" aren't the target of Satan and his minions. Even Satan knows which church is the One True Church. That's why out of all these, its the Holy Catholic Church that is constantly berated and blamed and accused and attacked. No matter what the Holy Father does, there will still be voices against the Church in this matter.

[thessalonian]

domincan,

I agree.

[StColette]

Found this to add to Father Cappie's post

Pope meets victims of sexual abuse before leaving Sydney

Pope Benedict delivers speech at World Youth DaySydney, Jul 20, 2008 / 10:48 pm (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI met four victims of child sex abuse this morning at a private Mass held at St. Mary’s Cathedral House. Two women and two men, who wished to remain anonymous, celebrated Mass with the Pope, who then listened to their stories and offered consolation.

Assuring them of his spiritual closeness, the Holy Father promised his continued prayers for them, their families and all victims, according to a press statement released today by the Holy See Press Office.

“Through his paternal gesture, the Holy Father wished to demonstrate again his deep concern for all those who have suffered sexual abuse.”

This meeting followed the Pope’s apology those who had been sexually abused by members of the Catholic Church in Australia, where he said he was “deeply sorry,” for the pain and suffering victims had endured.

The Archdiocese of Sydney says its Professional Standard Office nominated four victims to meet with the Holy Father. “The Holy Father’s meeting with victims reflects the continuing commitment of the whole church in Australia to bring healing and justice to those who have been terribly hurt by sexual abuse.”

[url="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13312"]http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13312[/url]