VATICAN CITY – Pope John Paul II assured American bishops from New England on Thursday that he supports their efforts to address the damage wrought by clerical sex abuse, acknowledging the scandal has “cast a shadow” on the church.
The pope urged the bishops to encourage Catholics to persevere in their faith and asked the bishops to be “strongly supportive” of those priests suffering from “the much-publicized failings” of some of their fellow clergymen.
Bishops from the northeastern United States, a region that was at the center of the clerical sex abuse scandal, have been holding talks at the Vatican as part of a visit required of all bishops every five years. They met with John Paul at his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo south of Rome.
“Our recent history is one of great pain because of the tragedy of clerical sexual abuse with all its devastating consequences,” Boston Archbishop Sean O’Malley told John Paul in remarks released by the Vatican. “As a church, we are striving to bring healing to all those affected by this crisis.”
O’Malley succeeded Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned amid accusations he protected priests who had been accused of sexual abuse.
The pope said the U.S. church “has been chastened by the events of the past two years, and much effort has rightly been expended on understanding and addressing the issues of sexual abuse, which have cast a shadow on her life and ministry.”
The pope’s speech did not go into details on the challenges, but O’Malley said before leaving Boston that he would talk to the Vatican about the plan to close 82 of the 357 parishes in the archdiocese in a consolidation caused in part by the scandal.
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