Benedict 'Begs Forgiveness' for Abuse Scandal, Promises Action

Pope Benedict XVI "begged forgiveness" on Friday for the sins of the priests involved in the church's child abuse scandal and promised to "do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again."

Speaking to some 15,000 priests gathered in St. Peter's Square for the conclusion of a year-long celebration of the priesthood, Benedict said that "in this very year of joy for the sacrament of the priesthood, the sins of priests came to light – particularly the abuse of the little ones, in which the priesthood, whose task is to manifest God's concern for our good, turns into its very opposite."

The pontiff added that in "admitting men to priestly ministry and in their formation we will do everything we can to weigh the authenticity of their vocation and make every effort to accompany priests along their journey, so that the Lord will protect them and watch over them in troubled situations and amid life's dangers."

"Had the Year for Priests been a glorification of our individual human performance, it would have been ruined by these events," Benedict continued. "But for us what happened was precisely the opposite: we grew in gratitude for God's gift, a gift concealed in 'earthen vessels' which ever anew, even amid human weakness, makes his love concretely present in this world."

"So let us look upon all that happened as a summons to purification, as a task which we bring to the future and which makes us acknowledge and love all the more the great gift we have received from God," he said. "In this way, his gift becomes a commitment to respond to God's courage and humility by our own courage and our own humility."

Benedict's remarks were similar to those made in previous public apologies about the abuse scandal, and while some had expressed hope that this homily would have a larger impact, abuse victims are apparently not buying it.

"Unless he says this is exactly what I am going to do, and this is exactly how I'm going to involve law enforcement, and this is my responsibility in the matter, it is little more than words, and we need concrete action," Jelle Casteix of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP) told NPR.

Casteix added that Benedict's focus on setting priests on the right path was "very disappointing," saying that, "while it is important to focus on formation of new priests, it is far more important to keep kids safe now by instituting zero tolerance to make sure any man who has hurt a child or any man who has covered up for someone who has hurt a child is immediately removed from priesthood and handed over to secular authorities."

Casteix's remarks come as a new study revealed the Catholic abuse scandal to be one of the biggest news stories of the year in both American and European media.

Released by the Pew Research Center on Friday, the study showed that 1,559 stories from 90 major news outlets were written about the scandal in the first four months of 2010 – just 77 fewer stories than the amount written in 2002 when news about abuse cover-up in the United States erupted.

The study also showed that Pope Benedict was the main focus of over half of the stories, while other individual figures, including cardinals, bishops and priests, appeared as lead newsmakers in just 12% of the stories.

In April of this year, a separate Pew Research survey showed that most people who were familiar with Pope Benedict and the sex abuse scandal disapproved of the pontiff's handling of the issue.

Out of people that had heard "a lot" or "a little" about the Pope, over 70 percent of the respondents said that Benedict had done "only fair" or a "poor" job of addressing the scandal, while only 12 percent said the pope had done a "good" or "excellent" job.

The study further showed that among Catholics, 59 percent gave the pope "only fair" or "poor" ratings, up from 40 percent in April 2008.

Catholics who attend church at least once a week were found to be more supportive of the pope's performance than those who attended church less often, although negative ratings among both groups rose since 2008.

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