By Alison Branley
The Herald
July 8, 2008
http://theherald.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/please-say-sorry-pope/805970.aspx
WORLD Youth Day pilgrims are backing calls for Pope Benedict XVI to apologise to victims of sexual abuse by priests when he arrives in Sydney next week.
Speaking at World Youth Day's "global village" at Kilaben Bay yesterday, pilgrims supported a push for His Holiness to make a formal apology similar to the one he made in the United States earlier this year.
They echoed sentiments of their host, Maitland-Newcastle Diocese Bishop Michael Malone, who has been the sole voice among Australian clerics calling for a papal apology.
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| VISITORS: Mexicans Eduardo Penieres and Ofelia Cordero at World Youth Day's "global village" at St Josephs, Kilaben Bay, yesterday. |
The Maitland-Newcastle Diocese has paid $6 million in compensation in the past decade to victims of pedophile priests, including the greatest known individual payment to an Australian victim.
The diocese is hosting more than 3300 Pilgrims for its Days in the Diocese program, which runs between July 10 and 14 ahead of World Youth Day activities in Sydney next week.
When interviewed by The Herald, pilgrims staying at Kilaben Bay, including Ofelia Cordero, 19, Israel Estrella and Eduardo Penieres, all from Mexico, agreed the Pope should apologise.
"It's not his mistake, it's the church as an authority. I think as the head of that authority he should feel bad for the things it was complicit to," Ms Cordero said.
Nyasha Chikuku, 30, from Zimbabwe, was also supportive of an apology: "I think he should say sorry for the cases which are true, in some cases it's people who want to tarnish the image of the church."
Father Robert Mabonga, of Zimbabwe, said the perpetrators should be urged to apologise, "and the Pope should support that apology as a father figure in the church."
While some were aware of pedophile priest cases in the US and Australia, many said they were unaware of cases in their homelands.
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