At Mass today, Pope Benedict begged for forgiveness for the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal, AFP reports:
“Pope Benedict XVI on Friday begged forgiveness for the ‘abuse of the little ones' by paedophile priests and pledged to ‘do everything possible' to stop the scourge.
‘And so it happened 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,' Benedict said at a mass in St Peter's Square marking the end of the Roman Catholic Church's Year for Priests.
‘We… insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again,' he said before some 15,000 white-clad priests in the sun-drenched square…With paedophilia, ‘the priesthood, whose task is to manifest God?s concern for our good, turns into its very opposite,' lamented the 83-year-old pope, wearing white and gold vestments…'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,' Benedict vowed.”
