UNITED STATES
New Jersey Newsroom
BY ROBERT KINKEAD
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Pope Benedict XVI added a new mystery to the Catholic faith last Sunday.
Speaking about the abuse of children by priests and other religious figures, the Pontiff said, “How are we to explain the fact that people who regularly received the Lord’s body and confessed their sins in the Sacrament of Penance have offended in this way? It remains a mystery.”
The papal comments were made in a recorded TV address delivered at the close of an outdoor Mass attended by 75,000 Catholics, many from overseas, in Ireland’s largest sports stadium. Ireland’s prime minister and president attended the Mass, the final event of a Eucharistic Congress aimed at shoring up flagging faith.
Not everyone agreed with the Pope.
“The pontiff’s wrong: there’s little mystery here,” said Barbara Dorris in an emailed statement reported by the Associated Press.
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