VALLETTA (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI wept during meetings with Maltese victims of the paedophile priest scandals rocking the Roman Catholic Church and expressed his own "shame and sorrow."
"He listened to us individually, and prayed and cried with us," said Lawrence Grech, one of eight abuse victims who met the pope for 25 minutes in the Vatican's embassy in Malta. [According to Fr. Z, Grech is one of the most vocal about the scandal.]
The Vatican said Sunday that Benedict had "expressed his shame and sorrow over what victims and their families have suffered."
The pope "prayed with them and assured them that the Church is doing, and will continue to do, all in its power to investigate allegations (and) to bring to justice those responsible for abuse," a Vatican statement said.
Benedict promised the victims "effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future," it added.
"I was impressed by the humility of the pope," Grech told AFP.
"He was ready to take on the embarrassment (for deeds) done by others. He was very courageous...
"He even blessed a cross I had and thanked me for speaking out about the abuse," he added, struggling to hold back his tears. [Hey Obama-maniacs! Will your idol do this too?]
Earlier, he said, he had wanted an apology: but now his anger had subsided and he was satisfied with his meeting with the pope, "the topmost person who could have listened to me and my story."
"I will continue my battle, not against the Church but against paedophilia." [Which is the real battle. The mainstream media and the liberal hacks are directing their energies against the Church. Now you see who the real agents of evil are.]
Malta recently joined the list of countries shattered by paedophilia priest scandals in the past several months.
Grech and other members of the group gave a press conference last week at which they told how they were abused at an orphanage in central Malta run by priests.
Benedict, who met with victims in Australia and the United States in 2008, has come under increasing pressure over allegations that the Vatican hierarchy, himself included, helped protect predator priests.
While the Vatican and senior bishops have rallied around the pope, the Catholic leadership has faced mounting pressure to repair the Church's image. [Which liberals and modernists like McBrien, Kung, Pfelger Pro-choice Obama nuns are doing!]
On the flight to Malta on Saturday, the pope said Church had been "wounded by our sins".
"Malta loves Christ who loves his Church which is his body, even if this body is wounded by our sins," he said.
Predominantly Catholic Malta, where one in three children under 16 attend Catholic schools, has itself been hit by numerous abuse cases.
The Maltese Church revealed recently that a paedophilia "response team" it set up in 1999 had received allegations against 45 priests.
Although nearly half of these had been ruled groundless, it added: "For the Church, every case is one too many."
Malta has also been scandalised by revelations that a suspected paedophile priest has retired here from Canada.
Amid the global furore over paedophile priests, the pope has faced an uphill battle in getting across the messages he had planned for Malta -- notably on immigration.
Malta is the smallest member of the European Union with a population of some 443,000. It lies halfway between Sicily and the north African coast, and took in a record nearly 3,000 boat people in 2008.
Hundreds remain crowded into detention centres awaiting word of their fate.
Benedict has called several times over the past few months for fair and human solutions on the issue.
Malta has one priest for every 490 Catholics, compared with a global average of one in nearly 2,900, according to Church statistics.
Abortion is illegal though an increasing number of Maltese are in favour of overturning the ban on divorce.[which does not make it right! Go to 1940s Germany and it is legal to kill those who are "unpure". Same logic we have for those who are fighting for abortion.]
During the visit the pope reiterated the Vatican's anti-divorce stance. [which is the REAL REASON why the "rights activist" are mad against the Holy Father!]
"Your nation should continue to stand up for the indissolubility of marriage," he said. "And for the true nature of the family, just as it does for the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death."
Benedict left Malta in the evening to return to the Vatican, completing his 14th overseas trip since 2005 and the first this year.
***
You can feel the Holy Father's pain...
for the pain the victims are suffering and how he empathizes with them...
for the pain he is suffering for the faults his priests committed...
for the sheer incompetence and lack of commitment to their duties of his bishops...
Pray, pray, pray...
"He listened to us individually, and prayed and cried with us," said Lawrence Grech, one of eight abuse victims who met the pope for 25 minutes in the Vatican's embassy in Malta. [According to Fr. Z, Grech is one of the most vocal about the scandal.]
The Vatican said Sunday that Benedict had "expressed his shame and sorrow over what victims and their families have suffered."
The pope "prayed with them and assured them that the Church is doing, and will continue to do, all in its power to investigate allegations (and) to bring to justice those responsible for abuse," a Vatican statement said.
Benedict promised the victims "effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future," it added.
"I was impressed by the humility of the pope," Grech told AFP.
"He was ready to take on the embarrassment (for deeds) done by others. He was very courageous...
"He even blessed a cross I had and thanked me for speaking out about the abuse," he added, struggling to hold back his tears. [Hey Obama-maniacs! Will your idol do this too?]
Earlier, he said, he had wanted an apology: but now his anger had subsided and he was satisfied with his meeting with the pope, "the topmost person who could have listened to me and my story."
"I will continue my battle, not against the Church but against paedophilia." [Which is the real battle. The mainstream media and the liberal hacks are directing their energies against the Church. Now you see who the real agents of evil are.]
Malta recently joined the list of countries shattered by paedophilia priest scandals in the past several months.
Grech and other members of the group gave a press conference last week at which they told how they were abused at an orphanage in central Malta run by priests.
Benedict, who met with victims in Australia and the United States in 2008, has come under increasing pressure over allegations that the Vatican hierarchy, himself included, helped protect predator priests.
While the Vatican and senior bishops have rallied around the pope, the Catholic leadership has faced mounting pressure to repair the Church's image. [Which liberals and modernists like McBrien, Kung, Pfelger Pro-choice Obama nuns are doing!]
On the flight to Malta on Saturday, the pope said Church had been "wounded by our sins".
"Malta loves Christ who loves his Church which is his body, even if this body is wounded by our sins," he said.
Predominantly Catholic Malta, where one in three children under 16 attend Catholic schools, has itself been hit by numerous abuse cases.
The Maltese Church revealed recently that a paedophilia "response team" it set up in 1999 had received allegations against 45 priests.
Although nearly half of these had been ruled groundless, it added: "For the Church, every case is one too many."
Malta has also been scandalised by revelations that a suspected paedophile priest has retired here from Canada.
Amid the global furore over paedophile priests, the pope has faced an uphill battle in getting across the messages he had planned for Malta -- notably on immigration.
Malta is the smallest member of the European Union with a population of some 443,000. It lies halfway between Sicily and the north African coast, and took in a record nearly 3,000 boat people in 2008.
Hundreds remain crowded into detention centres awaiting word of their fate.
Benedict has called several times over the past few months for fair and human solutions on the issue.
Malta has one priest for every 490 Catholics, compared with a global average of one in nearly 2,900, according to Church statistics.
Abortion is illegal though an increasing number of Maltese are in favour of overturning the ban on divorce.[which does not make it right! Go to 1940s Germany and it is legal to kill those who are "unpure". Same logic we have for those who are fighting for abortion.]
During the visit the pope reiterated the Vatican's anti-divorce stance. [which is the REAL REASON why the "rights activist" are mad against the Holy Father!]
"Your nation should continue to stand up for the indissolubility of marriage," he said. "And for the true nature of the family, just as it does for the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death."
Benedict left Malta in the evening to return to the Vatican, completing his 14th overseas trip since 2005 and the first this year.
***
You can feel the Holy Father's pain...
for the pain the victims are suffering and how he empathizes with them...
for the pain he is suffering for the faults his priests committed...
for the sheer incompetence and lack of commitment to their duties of his bishops...
Pray, pray, pray...
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