By Rachel Donadio
New York Times
April 18, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/world/europe/19pope.html?src=me
In his first such encounter since a sexual abuse scandal began to envelop the Catholic Church in recent months, Pope Benedict XVI met privately on Sunday with a small group of victims of sexual abuse by priests, expressing his "shame and sorrow" at their plight, the Vatican said.
The pope "was deeply moved by their stories and expressed his shame and sorrow over what victims and their families have suffered," the Vatican said in a statement after Benedict met with eight Maltese men who said they were molested by priests as youths in a Malta orphanage.
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| A Vatican spokesman said he did not think that Pope Benedict XVI\'s Malta visit would set a precedent for meetings with victims in other countries |
"He prayed with them and assured them that the church is doing, and will continue to do, all in its power to investigate allegations, to bring to justice those responsible for abuse and to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future," the statement continued.
The church has faced a wave of accusations in recent months that it covered up sexual abuse of children by priests and failed to take action — criminal or ecclesiastical — to punish pedophile priests and remove them from working with children.
Last week the Vatican published a guide explaining the procedures they advise bishops to follow in abuse cases.
But until Sunday, Benedict had not directly addressed the issue since the recent scandal broke.
Lawrence Grech, 37, one of the men who met with Benedict on Sunday, said he found the meeting redemptive.
"You pray for me and you fill in the emptiness which I have the last 25 years," Mr. Grech said he told the pope. "I lost faith, everything, because people like you have done damage to me."
"I'm proud of you," the pope said, according to Mr. Grech. "I pray for you for your courage to come forward and speak out."
Mr. Grech is one of 10 men who in 2003 filed a criminal suit against four priests the men said molested them when they were growing up in an orphanage in Malta. He and others have complained that the Malta diocese has been investigating the case for seven years and has not yet determined how to proceed against the priests. Three are still working as priests in Malta and one is now in Italy, Mr. Grech said.
Benedict met the victims for 20 minutes in the chapel of the Apostolic Nunciature in Malta, far from the eyes of the news media. Two local bishops and several members of the papal entourage were also present. The climate was "very intense but very serene," the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said in a news conference.
It was Benedict's fourth such meeting. He also met with abuse victims in visits to the United States and Australia in 2008, and in Rome last year.
In the news conference on Sunday, Father Lombardi did not elaborate on the measures mentioned in the statement and said the meeting was a "symbolic" event more than a "legal" one. Father Lombardi said he did not think the visit would set a precedent for Benedict to meet with victims in every country he visits.
The Vatican statement said that the pope "prayed that all the victims of abuse would experience healing and reconciliation, enabling them to move forward with renewed hope."
But some victims' groups said the words were no substitute for action. Peter Isely, a spokesman for SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called it "astonishing" that Benedict said the Vatican was doing "all in its power" to investigate allegations.
"It hurts and endangers kids when adults confuse inaction with action and recklessness with effectiveness," Mr. Isely said in a statement. "It's wrong, when thousands are being molested, to just make vague promises."
Benedict traveled Saturday evening to this predominantly Roman Catholic island midway between Sicily and North Africa to mark the 1,950th anniversary of the shipwreck of St. Paul here and to underscore the Christian roots of Europe and the challenge of illegal immigration. He also praised Malta for keeping divorce and abortion illegal.
Throughout the visit, Benedict recalled the plight of St. Paul, who is said to have taken shelter on Malta after his boat encountered storms en route to Rome. On Sunday, he even took a half-hour boat ride to an event with young people.
One of four young people to address the pope said he spoke for those who feel marginalized because "we are of a different sexual orientation," or because they came from "broken or dysfunctional families," were immigrants or had trouble with drugs.
"It seems almost as if we are less readily accepted and treated with dignity by the Christian community than we are by all other members of society," said the young man, who was not identified and appeared to be of college age. "Your Holiness, what must we do?"
Benedict applauded mildly, before delivering a speech on St. Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus and alighting on a central theme of his papacy: in Europe, the pope said, "Gospel values are once again becoming countercultural, just as they were at the time of St. Paul."
Despite the cloud of volcanic ash, the pope was able to travel.
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