Times Live
May 11, 2010
http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/article444434.ece/Pope--Paedophile-peril-from-within
Pope Benedict XVI says the crisis of sexual abuse of children by priests should make the Church acknowledge the "terrifying" truth that its greatest threat comes not from outside enemies but from "sin within the Church".
Pope Benedict XVI referred to the paedophile priest scandal rocking the Catholic Church on his arrival in Portugal on Tuesday, saying the Church's "greatest persecution" came from its own "sin".
"Today the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from outside, but from the sin inside the Church itself," the pope told journalists aboard his plane on the flight from Rome.
Allegations that it for years protected paedophile priests from prosecution in several European countries and in the United States has overshadowed preparations for his four-day visit to overwhelmingly Catholic Portugal.
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| Pope Benedict XVI Photo by ALESSANDRO BIANCHI |
Wearing an ivory robe with a golden crucifix around his neck, a tired-looking Benedict, 83, walked gingerly down the gangway steps to be welcomed by Portugal's President Anibal Cavaco Silva and his wife Maria.
The president welcomed the pope to a "free and plural Portugal" whose people, he said, have "a calling to recognize the value of diversity".
The centre-right president is due to decide next week whether to sign into law a bill passed by parliament which would make Portugal the sixth country to allow same-sex marriage.
Church authorities in Portugal said Benedict was likely to call on Portugal to uphold Christian values and urge solidarity across Europe's struggling economies.
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