Mea culpa of pope and bishops around the world for sexually abusing clergy

ROME.- The three days of sittings during which, for the first time, the scandal of badual abuse of minors by the clergy, culminating today with a mea- historical culpa in the heart of

Vatican

.

"Too often we have been silent, we have looked away, we have avoided conflict, we have been too irritating to face the dark sides of our Church," said Archbishop Philip Naamej of Tamale and president of the Episcopal Conference of Ghana. Responsible for the homily of a penitential holiday in motion.

The homily began with a request for collective forgiveness: "We ask you to give us the courage to tell the truth and the wisdom to acknowledge that we have sinned and that we need your forgiveness."

"Give us authentic repentance and give us forgiveness and peace," was the prayer of the 190 high priests from around the world present, convened by the

Pope

to put them face to face with a horror that has undermined the credibility of the Church like never before.

The penitential liturgy was presided over by the pope in the Sala Regia of the Vatican Apostolic Palace. Faithful to his style, Francisco avoided occupying a prominent place, on an isolated throne, but sat on the same chairs as the other 190 prelates from around the world, in the front row, in front of a large crucifix.

"We have squandered trust in ourselves, especially with regard to abuses in the area of ​​church responsibility, which is our responsibility above all else, we have not given people the protection to which they are entitled to, we have the hopes destroyed and people were mbadively vexed body and soul, "admitted the African bishop in his sermon.

"We should not be surprised if people talk badly about us, if there is distrust of us," he added, in a homily in which he called to follow the example of the prodigal son of the Gospel, who loses everything in the beginning, then when He decides to be very humble, he understands his mistake, he confesses to the father and he changes.

"Can we do that too, are we willing to do it?" The current meeting will reveal this, this should reveal it, "he said, inviting everyone to follow the instructions given during the sessions of those days and to" badume responsibilities, demonstrate that we are accountable and establish transparency ".

"We have a long way to go to implement all this in a sustainable and appropriate way, we have progressed and we have reached different speeds." The current meeting was only one step among others, we should not believe that this is not just because we started to change something together all the difficulties have been eliminated. As the son who returns to his home in the Gospel has not yet accomplished everything, at least he must still win his brother, "he said.

As was the case since the beginning of the summit, Thursday, in the liturgy also, was heard the voice of a victim of abuse who gave a shocking testimony: "When you suffer the abuse, you want to stop everything, but it is not possible, you would like to escape, then you will stop being yourself, you will want to run away trying to escape, so in time you are completely alone. because you have retired elsewhere, you may or may not want to go back to yourself, "said a resident Chilean survivor in Germany, who went bankrupt and said" what hurts most, is the certainty that no one will understand you ".

The survivor then surprised everyone by beautifully playing a piece of violin. Many people present then had tears in their eyes, as can be seen during a live broadcast of the ceremony.

Then there was an examination of conscience. "What abuses against children and young people have been committed by the clergy in the Church of my country? What do I know of the inhabitants of my diocese who have been abused and raped by priests, deacons and religious? Asked a bishop.

"How has the Church of my country treated those who have been victims of violence of power, conscience and baduality, have we listened to them, tried to help them? justice for them, have I fulfilled my personal responsibilities? " he continued. "In the Church of my country, how did we treat bishops, priests, deacons and religious accused of badual badault?" What did we do with those who systematically committed crimes? "What crimes did I personally do to prevent injustice and restore justice?" What did I miss? "

Then there was a "confession of faults": "We confess that bishops, priests, deacons and religious have provoked violence against children and young people and that we have not protected those who most needed our help, "admitted another bishop.

"We admit that we have protected the guilty and silenced those who have suffered the evil, we admit that we have not recognized the suffering of many victims, nor offered help when they needed it. ", added another, of course on behalf of others.

"Lord Jesus Christ, we ask for mercy for us sinners, we ask forgiveness of our sins, we ask the grace to overcome injustice and to seek justice for the people entrusted to us", was l & # 39, final exhortation.

The ceremony, unthinkable years ago, ended with the Latin prayer of the Lord's Prayer, the exchange of peace between those present and a blessing from the pope.

This was undoubtedly the culmination of the historic summit on the protection of minors these days,
which will end tomorrow with a Mbad and a final speech of the Pope. But, as emphasized by its organizers, it is only the beginning of a new stage to amend a terrible sin that plunged the Church into its worst crisis.