Guardian
April 2, 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/apr/02/cardinal-catholics-demoralised-confused
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| Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the leader of Scotland's Catholic church. Photo by Andrew Milligan |
The most senior Catholic in Britain will use his Easter sermon to say that the actions of paedophile priests have left ordinary Catholics feeling demoralised and confused, and caused "great hatred" to be directed at innocent clergy.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who is preaching at St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh on Sunday, will tell the congregation that no comfort should be drawn from the "small percentage" of priests committing such crimes because the impact of their "sinful acts" is so large.
O'Brien, who is the current archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, is Scotland's only cardinal and leads its Conference of Bishops. He outranks the archbishop of Westminster on the international stage because he belongs to the College of Cardinals, which elects a pope.
Cardinals also make themselves available to the pope if he requests their advice. These privileges are not extended to archbishops and bishops, who must wait until a consistory, a meeting of the cardinalate, to learn whether they will receive a red hat.
O'Brien, once nicknamed the "cardinal of controversy", has opposed the "social evil" of abortion and the "Frankenstein" experiments of embryonic stem cell research. His Easter sermon, an attempt to make amends with a wounded community, is as forthright as his hostility towards traditional touchstone issues. He will say that people who failed to report abuse allegations have brought shame on everyone and that the past few weeks and months have not been easy.
"We can take no comfort from the fact that only a small percentage of priests committed such crimes – the impact of their sinful acts is very large – their actions harmed the lives of their victims, caused great hatred to be directed at their innocent brother priests and left ordinary Catholics demoralised and confused.
"One might say there has been a great 'public humiliation' of the church, as, in some way or another, we realise that we have not been as alert as we should have been to the evils being perpetrated."
For weeks, the church hierarchy was mostly silent as anger mounted over cases involving thousands of children in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland and even led to questions about Benedict's handling of allegations during his time as a high-ranking official in charge of the department tasked with investigating such claims.
Recent days have seen contrition and remorse from those archbishops and bishops who are acutely aware of public disquiet. Some are exploiting the plethora of services during Holy Week to ask forgiveness, while others, such as the archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, accused the media of instigating a smear campaign against the pope.
The pope's personal preacher, the Rev Raniero Cantalamessa, who offers weekly sermons to the papal household during Advent and Lent, today likened the sex abuse accusations against the Catholic church and the pope to the "collective violence" suffered by Jews. At a Good Friday sermon, with the pope listening to him in St Peter's Basilica, he said that a Jewish friend wrote to him saying the accusations remind him of the "more shameful aspects of antisemitism".
"The use of stereotypes, the passing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt remind me of the more shameful aspects of antisemitism,'" Cantalamessa said his friend wrote.
In his homily, O'Brien highlights the disillusion and anger felt by Catholics and asks them not to turn their back on the church. He warns, however, that there is no easy solution to the crises facing the church or the government, which has also suffered blows to its authority.
"How can we explain the wrongs committed by some within the church? I would suggest that we should no more turn away from the church than we should turn against our democracy.
"Whatever flaws or personal failings afflict them, it remains the case that the overwhelming majority of priests and politicians are honourable and honest – seeking to live out their beliefs and serve society."
He also talks about the September visit of Benedict XVI, an historic occasion that should have been a source of joy for many Catholics but is attracting criticism and protests over its costs.
At a press conference last month to confirm the dates and itinerary of the papal trip, O'Brien remarked that the scandal involving Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh over Father Brendan Smyth and other clerical abuse charges was a matter for the church in Ireland and that it should not overshadow this autumn's event.
Jack Valero, who is co-ordinating media arrangements for the beatification of Cardinal Henry Newman this autumn, was also confident about a positive reception for the pope.
"There is a long way to go until September, but the last two weeks have caused lots of damage. People read the New York Times stories and they are completely convinced that the pope was personally involved [in a cover-up]. That is not the case. That will take time to put right.Valero, in addition to other Catholics, is preparing an "authoritative but unofficial" bureau of media-trained and well-briefed Catholic speakers to talk about the papal visit in the coming months.
He said: "There is huge demand for Catholics to speak about the church and the pope. I am not worried that people are protesting about the visit. They have 10,000 supporters but only 50 people attended the demonstration. They are just a footnote. "Catholics are at home watching TV, but in September four million will be come out on the streets."Earlier this week, in an interview with a new religious magazine, Gordon Brown praised Catholicism for often being the "conscience of the nation" and in his Easter message, issued today, he applauded the "redeeming power of faith" and said the UK had particular reason to celebrate this year because of the papal visit.
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