The Pope's apology:

"...Here I would like to pause to acknowledge the shame which we have all felt as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and religious in this country.

Indeed, I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured and I assure them that as their pastor I too share in their suffering.

These misdeeds, which constitute so grave a betrayal of trust, deserve unequivocal condemnation.

They have caused great pain and have damaged the Church's witness.

I ask all of you to support and assist your bishops, and to work together with them in combating this evil.

Victims should receive compassion and care, and those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice.

It is an urgent priority to promote a safer and more wholesome environment, especially for young people. ..."

Let's hope this acts as a catalyst to change things.

Oliver,
I like your zeal, but I think you sometime go overboard.

>> One trusts the Attorney-General and the Commissioners of Police take note and start investigating the Catholic Church, the Scouts and similiar places, where these deviants hand-out. <<

This is exactly what the rightist groups in Germany demand, except that it is not the Catholic Church as such but all Muslims living in the country, and the reason is not sexual abuse of minors by some clergy but - planned or actually performed - terrorist acts by a tiny minority of them which the rest are allegedly covering up. The Muslims would see such a sweeping investigation, where there is no concrete suspicion of a criminal act or at least intention, as an infringement of their basic rights in a democratic country, and so would I although I am not a Muslim.

It is certainly terrible when a father rapes his own daughter, though these things unfortunately do happen. However, does it mean that the "Attorney-General and the Commissioners of Police (should) start investigating" all fathers?

Besides, I did not understand what were these "deviants" supposed to hand out.

mjpb,
I think you would (and other contributors to this thread should) be interested in this:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24040493-7583,00.html.

I sat there with tears in my eyes
as I listened to the Papal apology
on television this evening.

Finally, a step in the right direction!

Let us now pray that this will initiate
change.

It didn’t move me Foxy. All I could do was half-raise one eyebrow and take a slightly deeper breath than usual.

A very staid apology. The Pope was expressionless. He didn’t look up. He just kept reading his script without showing any emotion.

Those most directly affected by the crimes of the Catholic Church weren’t even allowed to be in the immediate presence of the Pope as he uttered the apology. I think that this was appalling. They so easily could have been allowed to be right up the front, in a position where the Pontiff could have looked up and addressed them directly as he uttered the vital words.

I hope that it is a major step in the right direction… and will initiate the necessary change.

But I doubt it.

Dear Ludwig,

The fact remains, the Pope did apologise,
nothing can change that.
It will go down in the Church's history.

And the words were strong.
Coming from the Head of the Church,
it has to have an impact.

"... Victims should receive compassion and care,
and those responsible for these evils must
be brought to justice. It is an urgent
priority to promote a safer and more wholesome
environment, especially for young people..."

I truly believed that the Pope would not utter
these words.
I felt that Cardinal Pell and the lawyers
would simply exert their
influence and it wouldn't happen.

I so happy that I was wrong.

As I said, its finally a step in the right
direction. Acknowledging a problem is the
first step in fixing it. We can only hope
that this will now initiate the needed change
within the Church.

As for the Pope lacking emotion.
To me he simply appeared tired.
He is afterall 82 years old - and not
a good traveller, as the media reported.
All things considered, he's done remarkably
well for his age.

I didn't realize that the victims of sexual abuse
and their families were not allowed to sit
in the front rows of St Mary's Cathedral for the
Pope's speech. Who could stop them in a public
place like a Cathedral? I assumed they simply chose
not to attend.

Let's not diminish the Pope's
apology as a first step in the right direction.
Let's now encourage that this be followed by
action within the Church's ranks.