BishopAccountability.org
	Pope Calls for Unity in US Church Irish Times (Ireland) April 19, 2008 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0419/breaking29.htm Pope Benedict has urged the US Catholic Church to overcome its divisions and seek "purification" and the truth following its sexual abuse scandal. For the fifth consecutive day, the 81-year-old pontiff spoke out about the scandal that rocked the US Church and has cost it some $2 billion in settlement payments with victims. Pope Benedict began the penultimate day of his first US papal visit with a Mass in New York's St Patrick Cathedral, the Gothic cathedral known as the center of American Catholicism. In his sermon, he said he was spiritually close to the US Church as it deals with the aftermath of the scandal and cleanses and renews itself. "I join you in praying that this will be a time of purification for and every particular Church and religious community, a time for healing. I also encourage you to cooperate with your bishops who continue to work to effectively resolve this issue," he said. The pope also lamented "division between different groups, different generations, different member of the same religious family," and prayed for "a renewed sense of unity and purpose" so that the US Church could "move forward in hope, in love for the truth and for one another."
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.