BishopAccountability.org
	Victims in Boston Criticize Popes Comments By Abby Goodnough New York Times April 15, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/us/15cnd-reax.html BOSTON — Pope Benedict XVI may have expressed his regrets on Tuesday for the child sexual-abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, saying he was "deeply ashamed," but several abuse victims here, where the crisis erupted in 2002, said his comments rang hollow. "I think they were rehearsed," said Robert Costello, who says he was abused by a priest in West Roxbury, Mass., starting when he was 10. He and other victims spoke at a news conference organized by Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer who has represented hundreds of victims of clergy abuse. In particular, Mr. Costello questioned why the pope would say the scandal has caused "great suffering for the church" and "for me personally" without acknowledging the pain of abuse victims themselves. "What about the suffering of the children?" said Mr. Costello, who will travel to New York to read aloud the names of victims on Friday while the pope addresses the United Nations. "He doesn't have any empathy for victims because he doesn't talk to us." David Carney, who says a priest abused him during his freshman year at Catholic Memorial High School in West Roxbury, also dismissed the pope's comments as insincere. "Don't sit around on your plane and talk about it," said Mr. Carney, 41, who also attended the news conference. "If you're ashamed about it, do something about it. A good company runs from the top down, right? Be a good boss." Mr. Carney also expressed bitterness about the pope's decision not to visit Boston, where the Archdiocese of Boston, struggling financially after paying settlements to numerous victims, has closed parishes and schools. At best, he said, the pope's comments on the abuse scandal were lip service to Boston Catholics. "You're on the fringes of Boston, you're in New York, so you just better touch on it just in case," Mr. Carney said. "Why doesn't he come try to fix all of the problems?"
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.