VATICAN CITY
Reuters AlertNet
10 Dec 2004 13:44:59 GMT
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, Dec 10 (Reuters) - The American Roman Catholic Church must recognise its failings in the priestly sexual abuse scandal and rise up again with determination to heal the deep wounds, Pope John Paul told U.S. bishops on Friday.
The 84-year-old Pope, addressing a group of bishops from Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, said the leaders of the United States Catholic Church had to first renew themselves spiritually in order to truly renew their Church.
"I have shared the deep pain which you and your people have experienced in these last years," the Pope said.
The sexual abuse crisis erupted in 2002 when it was discovered that many U.S. bishops had simply moved priests known to have abused minors to new parishes instead of defrocking them or reporting them to the authorities.
Posted by kshaw at December 10, 2004 08:44 AM