Mixed Reactions from Faithful at Cardinals Act of Contrition, by Maureen Ellis, Herald Scotland, April 4, 2010

Mixed Reactions from Faithful at Cardinal's Act of Contrition

By Maureen Ellis
Herald Scotland
April 4, 2010

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/mixed-reactions-from-faithful-at-cardinal-s-act-of-contrition-1.1018337

SCOTLAND -- It was his second public act of contrition over child sex abuse scandals in less than a decade.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien called for a resurrection in the life of the church in light of the "great public humiliation" caused by the allegations and accusations of a systematic cover-up.

A packed St Mary’s in Edinburgh hears mass by Cardinal Keith O’Brien

The leader of Scotland's Catholics used his Easter Sunday homily to issue an apology to victims of "sinful acts" carried out by anyone representing the Church and for a failure to report those crimes that "brings shame on us all".

Restating and reiterating his apology of 2002, the Cardinal called on "a resurrection to new life" in the Church.

Speaking immediately after mass, he said: "Like the church in Ireland in particular, we're looking for a new resurrection; a renewal of our church following on from our falls."

More than 5,000 worshippers were expected to cross the threshold of St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral in Edinburgh yesterday to mark the most important date of the liturgical calendar.

The congregation at the 11.30am mass celebrated by the Cardinal filled every available seat and lined the aisles as a much-publicised apology was delivered during the 90-minute service. The Cardinal's homily generated mixed feelings among the congregation.

Scots business tycoon and philanthropist, Sir Tom Farmer, among those who shook hands with the Cardinal on leaving the Broughton Street cathedral, praised the "open" speech.

Sir Farmer said: "He made the point very clearly that there had been mistakes made in the church, unfortunate incidents that have been covered up, and the big thing that came through was that we're looking forward to a new beginning. That's the story of Easter and the story that the Cardinal was giving."

Deborah Tracy, a training provider from Corstorphine, said: "It had to be addressed. As the Cardinal said, it was an embarrassment to everyone who is Catholic. It's a scandal if any child is abused in any situation, so it had to be addressed and brought to the forefront."

But the sermon didn't go far enough for schoolteacher Kathleen McAnally, from Cathcart on Glasgow's south side, who said: "I thought what he said was right and I was glad to hear him say it, but the question that remains unanswered is whether or not the Pope was involved in the cover-up."

Pope Benedict XVI has faced calls for his resignation over claims he failed to act on complaints about American priest Father Lawrence Murphy during the 1990s.

The Pope, due to visit Edinburgh and Glasgow during the Scottish leg of his UK trip in September, yesterday said Easter brings a message of pardon, goodness and truth but his speech at the Vatican made no mention of the cover-up accusations that have rocked the Church.

The wider Catholic Church has been engulfed by sex abuse scandals this year, with victims coming forward in Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and the US.

The current controversy followed the publication of a bombshell report in November detailing decades of child abuse in Ireland and revealing how paedophile priests had been shielded by peers and officials.

Last month Pope Benedict sent a letter to Ireland to apologise after 16 years of clerical cover-ups.

Husband and wife June and Tom Carroll, attending mass with their two daughters, said the controversy hadn't made them question their own faith, but had made them question why an apology took so long.

Mr Carroll, 45, originally from Tipperary, said: "My mum is now 85 and what drove her through her life was her faith. I feel sorry for people like her who feel let down by the church. That's the biggest travesty."

"I feel sorry [for the church] for not having said what it should have said a long time ago," he added.

Pontiff is defended against the 'petty gossip of the moment'

CAROLYN CHURCHILL

Pope Benedict XVI made no mention of the sex abuse claims in his own Easter sermon but a senior cardinal waded into the row to defend the pontiff from "petty gossip of the moment".

The Pope has been engulfed in claims that he perpetuated a climate of cover-up for paedophile priests, but speaking to those gathered in St Peter's Square in Rome, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, hailed the Pope's "unfailing" leadership.

In an unusual departure from the Vatican's Easter rituals, Cardinal Sodano praised the Pope's "strength of spirit and apostolic courage". He said: "Holy Father, on your side are the people of God, who do not allow themselves to be influenced by the petty gossip of the moment, by the trials which sometimes buffet the community of believers."

In his own sermon, Pope Benedict XVI, who is due to visit Scotland in September, said that humanity was suffering from a "profound crisis" and he urged mankind to undergo a "spiritual and moral conversion". He later singled out the "trials and sufferings" including persecution and even death, of Christians in Iraq and Pakistan, and of people in Haiti and Chile. He did not mention the sex abuse scandal which has affected the church in several countries, including Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, and the US.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, also steered clear of the abuse issue in his Easter sermon, one day after he was criticised for claiming that the Catholic Church in Ireland had "lost all credibility" over the abuse scandal.

He later phoned Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to express "deep sorrow and regret for difficulties which may have been

created" by his remarks, due to be broadcast in a BBC interview today.

Dr Williams said:"I wasn't intending to criticise or condemn but to point out a really tragic situation and a huge challenge that faces the church in Ireland at the moment which many of them are rising to with great courage."

At Easter Sunday Mass at Dublin's Pro Cathedral, a small group of protesters interrupted the service by placing children's shoes at the altar to represent the child victims. Around five people walked to the steps of the altar where one man shouted "shame" at Archbishop Martin, who was celebrating the packed Mass.

It comes a month after the Irish Church's leader, Cardinal Sean Brady, admitted being at a meeting where children abused by a notorious convicted sex offender were forced to take a vow of silence. In his Easter homily, Cardinal Brady said: "There is now no hiding place for abusers in the church."