Pope under pressure to say sorry for priests alleged sins
Thu, May 08, 2008
AFP
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - PRESSURE mounted today on Pope Benedict XVI to apologise for sexual and physical abuse allegedly committed by priests in Australia when he visits the country in July.
As victim groups and a Catholic bishop called for the pontiff to say sorry for abuse by priests during his visit to attend World Youth Day in Sydney, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that an apology was being planned.
'Pope Benedict XVI will use his Australian trip to express his shame and regret over the church's long-running abuse scandal and may also meet the victims,' the tabloid quoted unnamed church officials as saying.
The paper said the Vatican would work on the wording of any apology in the weeks ahead of the pontiff's arrival here on July 13.
The pope last month issued an historic apology for sex abuse by predatory clergymen when he visited the United States.
A senior Australian bishop, Michael Malone, head of the church in the Maitland-Newcastle area north of Sydney, backed calls for the pontiff to say sorry and meet abuse victims during his Australian trip.
'(He) not only apologised publicly but also met with a number of victims (in the US),' Malone told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
'I'm not sure that his schedule in Sydney would allow that to happen, but I would certainly be supportive of it.'
Wayne Camley, spokesman for a prominent Australian victim support group, Broken Rites, said past abuse by Catholic clergyman in Australia had been even more widespread than in the United States and that the pope should be made aware of the extent of problem.
'In regard to the sexual abuse of children, treatment of children in homes that were run by the Catholic Church, it's a far deeper and more horrific story than what happened in the US,' he told the ABC.
'There are tens of thousands of victims from Catholic-run institutions who were denied education, they were used as slaves, they were sexually and physically abused,' he said.
Organisers of World Youth Day declined to speculate on whether the pontiff was considering an apology.
The pope will spend three days on holiday at a secret location in Australia before World Youth Day celebrations kick off on July 17.
