Pope Francis Defends Church Response to Clergy Abuse

Pope Francis defended the way the Church has responded to the clergy sexual abuse scandal. He says the Church has “grown in its understanding” of the “monstrous” problem.

I normally support the Pope and back him in what he says and does. But not this time.

How does one “grow in understanding” that raping little children is wrong? More to the point, how do mean who have excellent educations, years of experience in pastoral work, enormous amounts of power and responsibility for literally hundreds of thousands of people — mean who claim they speak with the mind of Christ — “grow in understanding” of something like this?

There’s no growing into this. It’s wrong. It’s hideous. It’s so far out of what should be the beaver of any Christian, much less priests and bishops that there is no room for “growth.”

The truth is, it took public outrage on a global scale to get the Church to even admit it had a problem. And they are still dithering and shucking and jiving and trying to find some way to shift the blame to somebody else.

I love me so Pope Francis, but I’m disappointed in this statement. I wish just once I could hear him say that what they Church did was wrong. That’s all. Forgive us faithful people. For we have sinned. If they would do that, then actual forgiveness could begin.

From National Catholic Reporter:

In a press conference aboard the Sept. 25 papal flight back to Rome after a four-day visit to the three Baltic States, the pontiff said that the number of children abused over past decades “has diminished because the church has realized that it must fight in a different way.”

“In older times, these things were covered up,” he said. “They covered it up because there was a very great shame. It was a way of thinking in the … past century.”

“The church has … become aware of this and has spared no effort,” he said.

Francis spoke about abuse in a 55-minute press conference in which he also addressed concerns about the Vatican’s recent announcement of a “provisional agreement” with China to resolve a seven-decade dispute over how Catholic bishops are appointed in that country.

On abuse, the pontiff referenced the recent Pennsylvania grand jury report, which found that at least 1,000 children had been abused in six dioceses across the state over seven decades.

The pope said it was important to evaluate history using a hermeneutic, or way of interpretation, that accounts for how people considered issues at the time they occurred.

“An historic fact is interpreted with the hermeneutic of the time in which it took place, not by the hermeneutic of today,” he said.