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	Berlusconi Praises Pope's "Humility and Sincerity" By Paddy Agnew and Eoin Burke Kennedy The Irish Times March 19, 2010 http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0323/1224266875896.html INTERNATIONAL REACTION: POPE BENEDICT’S pastoral letter to the Irish yesterday prompted the unexpected approval of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. In a remarkable communique, which may or may not be influenced by forthcoming regional elections, Mr Berlusconi expressed admiration for the “humility and sincerity” shown by the pope in the letter. “Benedict XVI, like many of his predecessors, is often called on to confront very difficult situations . . . The way in which he responds is remarkably efficient, at least for all those who are not guided by totally hostile sentiments, and it is efficient both for its humility and sincerity and for the sound reasoning of the pope,” he said. “The pastoral letter to the Irish is only the most recent example of his great charisma . . . In the name of the government, I wish to express to Benedict XVI all the affection and solidarity of the Italian people. Our people know how to differentiate between human error, and history is full of this, and the huge fruits of goodness which have come and continue to come from our Christian roots”. Groups representing victims of child sexual abuse in the US, meanwhile, have been strongly critical of Pope Benedict’s letter, describing it as “evasive and insulting”. Boston-based campaign group, BishopAccountability.org, said the pope had used “extraordinary verbal gymnastics” to defend himself and the Vatican from the charge that they instructed bishops worldwide to conceal child sex crimes. The organisation said the letter’s suggestion that Irish church officials had misinterpreted the second Vatican Council and had misplaced concern for the reputation of the church was a deliberate attempt to “minimise the church’s pathological culture of secrecy”. “The letter indicated no fundamental change in the church’s handling of this crisis,” the organisation’s president Terence McKiernan said. “The letter’s underlying goal seems to have been to appease the outrage while keeping the church in control of its incriminating information,” he said. Mr McKiernan suggested the pope should have used the letter to announce the resignations of Cardinal Brady and the other Irish bishops. The pope should also have demanded that the bishops release all pertinent files and other information about all accused priests, he said. The Chicago-based Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said the Vatican had not “properly disciplined” church leaders who allowed the abuse to continue.
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