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Reference code: N/5/2002/1533
Title: Address to the Cardinals of the United States
Date: 2002-04-23
Place: Vatican
Category: Speeches
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Content of the document
Dear Brothers,
1. Let me assure you first of all that I greatly
appreciate the effort you are making to keep the Holy See, and me
personally, informed regarding the complex and difficult situation which
has arisen in your country in recent months. I am confident that your
discussions here will bear much fruit for the good of the Catholic
people of the United States. You have come to the house of the Successor
of Peter, whose task it is to confirm his brother Bishops in faith and
love, and to unite them around Christ in the service of God's People.
The door of this house is always open to you. All the more so when your
communities are in distress.
Like you, I too have been deeply grieved by the fact
that priests and religious, whose vocation it is to help people live
holy lives in the sight of God, have themselves caused such suffering
and scandal to the young. Because of the great harm done by some priests
and religious, the Church herself is viewed with distrust, and many are
offended at the way in which the Church's leaders are perceived to have
acted in this matter. The abuse which has caused this crisis is by
every standard wrong and rightly considered a crime by society; it is
also an appalling sin in the eyes of God. To the victims and their
families, wherever they may be, I express my profound sense of
solidarity and concern.
2. It is true that a generalized lack of knowledge of
the nature of the problem and also at times the advice of clinical
experts led Bishops to make decisions which subsequent events showed to
be wrong. You are now working to establish more reliable criteria to
ensure that such mistakes are not repeated. At the same time, even while
recognizing how indispensable these criteria are, we cannot forget the
power of Christian conversion, that radical decision to turn away from
sin and back to God, which reaches to the depths of a person's soul and
can work extraordinary change.
Neither should we forget the immense spiritual, human
and social good that the vast majority of priests and religious in the
United States have done and are still doing. The Catholic Church in your
country has always promoted human and Christian values with great vigor
and generosity, in a way that has helped to consolidate all that is
noble in the American people.
A great work of art may be blemished, but its beauty
remains; and this is a truth which any intellectually honest critic will
recognize. To the Catholic communities in the United States, to their
Pastors and members, to the men and women religious, to teachers in
Catholic universities and schools, to American missionaries in all parts
of the world, go the wholehearted thanks of the entire Catholic Church
and the personal thanks of the Bishop of Rome.
3. The abuse of the young is a grave symptom of a crisis
affecting not only the Church but society as a whole. It is a
deep-seated crisis of sexual morality, even of human relationships, and
its prime victims are the family and the young. In addressing the
problem of abuse with clarity and determination, the Church will help
society to understand and deal with the crisis in its midst.
It must be absolutely clear to the Catholic faithful,
and to the wider community, that Bishops and superiors are concerned,
above all else, with the spiritual good of souls. People need to know
that there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those
who would harm the young. They must know that Bishops and priests are
totally committed to the fullness of Catholic truth on matters of sexual
morality, a truth as essential to the renewal of the priesthood and the
episcopate as it is to the renewal of marriage and family life.
4. We must be confident that this time of trial will
bring a purification of the entire Catholic community, a purification
that is urgently needed if the Church is to preach more effectively the
Gospel of Jesus Christ in all its liberating force. Now you must ensure
that where sin increased, grace will all the more abound (cf. Rom 5:20).
So much pain, so much sorrow must lead to a holier priesthood, a holier
episcopate, and a holier Church.
God alone is the source of holiness, and it is to him
above all that we must turn for forgiveness, for healing and for the
grace to meet this challenge with uncompromising courage and harmony of
purpose. Like the Good Shepherd of last Sunday's Gospel, Pastors must go
among their priests and people as men who inspire deep trust and lead
them to restful waters (cf. Ps 22:2).
I beg the Lord to give the Bishops of the United States
the strength to build their response to the present crisis upon the
solid foundations of faith and upon genuine pastoral charity for the
victims, as well as for the priests and the entire Catholic community in
your country. And I ask Catholics to stay close to their priests and
Bishops, and to support them with their prayers at this difficult time.
The peace of the Risen Christ be with you!
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