Source/Credit: Yahoo News | AP | UK
By Nicole Winfield | September 17, 2010
Pope meets with victims, tells UK he's sorry
LONDON – Pope Benedict XVI met Saturday with five people who were molested by priests as children and apologized to them, even as abuse survivors and thousands of people opposed to his visit marched in central London in the biggest protest of his five-year papacy.
Benedict met for about 30-40 minutes with the victims at the Vatican's apostolic nunciature in Wimbledon, according to the Vatican and Bill Kilgallon, chairman of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission — a church group that organized the encounter.
Benedict "expressed his deep sorrow and shame over what victims and their families had suffered," according to a Vatican statement.
"He prayed with them and assured them that the Catholic Church is continuing to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people, and that it is doing all in its power to investigate allegations, to collaborate with civil authorities and to bring to justice clergy and religious (brothers) accused of these egregious crimes," it said.
The statement was similar to ones issued by the Vatican when Benedict has met previously with victims on foreign trips to the United States, Australia and Malta. This time, Benedict also met with a group of professionals and volunteers who work to safeguard children and young people in church environments.
Kilgallon said he didn't know if any of the victims would choose to speak to the media.
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The sex abuse scandal has clouded Benedict's state visit to this deeply secular nation with a centuries-old history of anti-Catholic sentiment. Polls have indicated widespread dissatisfaction in Britain with the way Benedict has handled the crisis, with Catholics nearly as critical of him as the rest of the population.
Anger over the scandal runs high in Britain in part because of the enormous scale of the abuse in neighboring Ireland, where government reports have detailed systematic abuse of children at church-run schools and cover-up by church authorities.
As the pope met with the victims, abuse survivors and demonstrators opposed to the pope's stance against homosexuality, abortion and using condoms to fight AIDS marched from Hyde Park to Downing Street to protest the pope's four-day state visit.
They carried banners reading: "The pope is wrong — put a condom on" and "Pope protects pedophile priests."
Organizers said they expected 10,000 people, and thousands were seen marching through London. Police declined to give a crowd estimate. Even a crowd of a few thousand would make it the largest protest against Benedict since his election in 2005.
During a Mass in Westminster Cathedral earlier Saturday, Benedict said he hoped the church's humiliation would help victims heal and help the church purify itself and renew its commitment to educating the young.
His comments, which were in line with his previous statements on the topic, were directed at Britain's Catholic community in the seat of the English church, a sign that Benedict wanted to speak to the faithful about the humiliation they all felt as Catholics.
"I express my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes, along with my hope that the power of Christ's grace, his sacrifice of reconciliation, will bring deep healing and peace to their lives," Benedict said in his homily.
Read original post here: Pope meets with victims, tells UK he's sorry
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