PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Wall Street Journal
By DEBORAH BALL and SCOTT CALVERT
Sept. 27, 2015
PHILADELPHIA—The pope met with victims of sex abuse by priests on Sunday morning, expressing his “solidarity” for their suffering and assuring them the guilty will be punished.
The Vatican confirmed that the pope met at 8 a.m. Sunday morning at the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary with five adults—three women and two men—who suffered abuse by priests as minors. The group was accompanied by Boston Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, who is the chair of a papal committee for the protection of minors and has been leading the effort at the Vatican to establish new ways of dealing with the problem.
During a speech to bishops following the meeting, the pope said “God weeps” for abuse victims.
“I hold the stories and the suffering and the sorrow of children who were sexually abused by priests deep in my heart,” he said. “I remain overwhelmed with shame that men entrusted with the tender care of children violated these little ones and caused grievous harm. I am profoundly sorry…. The crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must no longer be held in secret. I pledge the zealous vigilance of the church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all.”
The Vatican said the pope listened to each of the victim’s stories, prayed with them and “expressed his solidarity” for their suffering. The pope also expressed “his own pain and shame especially in the case of injury caused them by clergy or church workers,” said a Vatican statement. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes.
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