UNITED STATES
Huffington Post
By Jason Berry
PHILADELPHIA, WASHINGTON and NEW YORK — Maintaining a tireless pace, Pope Francis kept on point Saturday as he arrived in Philadelphia and celebrated a midday Mass while large, fervent crowds waited outside, entertained by Latin American music and white-clad dancers, before a papal address in the evening at historic Independence Hall.
Anticipation of a different kind was building among people who struggle in the role of church outcasts: victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
The Associated Press reported that Francis was expected to “talk privately with abuse victims this weekend.”
The Philadelphia archdiocese has been hit hard with prosecutions, grand jury investigations and civil cases involving more than three dozen alleged clergy perpetrators, and one monsignor who spent time in prison for complicity.
The flood of benevolent media coverage for Francis would seem a form of respite to the beleaguered archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput, who has closed parishes in dealing with deficits from scandal-driven legal bills.
But for David Clohessy, director of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), the prospects of Francis meeting with survivors held scant hope.
“The seven or eight previous meetings between popes [Benedict and Francis] have given short-term comfort for a handful of survivors and long-term feelings of betrayal,” Clohessy told GroundTruth before any confirmation of a meeting.
“It will reinforce the convenient narrative that abuse cover-ups are over and only healing is needed,” he said.
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