Healing a major wound

Thursday, April 17, 2008 | 2:07 a.m.

Before landing in Washington on Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI said he was “deeply ashamed” of the sex scandal that has rocked the American Roman Catholic Church.

The church in the United States has been troubled for several years by the revelation that a number of priests across the country had molested children and that church leaders had covered up their crimes.

“It’s difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way their mission to give healing, to give the love of God to these children,” the pope said, adding that he will “do everything possible to heal this wound.”

Victims advocacy groups were not comforted by the pope’s statements, saying it will take more than words to heal the wound. The church still has much to do to ease the public’s mind. As numerous reports and lawsuits have detailed, church leadership turned a blind eye toward the problem and for decades shuffled sexual predators from one church to another, often moving them around the country, to hide their crimes.

Victims advocates have bemoaned the church’s actions and its response since the scandal was revealed. They say leaders have shirked their responsibility and haven’t yet put in strong enough oversight to make sure such a scandal doesn’t happen again.

For example, church law still does not specifically outlaw a pedophile from serving as a priest. But Vatican observers believe that could change soon. They hail the pope’s comments as a major statement on the scandal, his strongest yet, and say his words were likely a precursor to action.

They will have to be if the pope wants to follow through on his intentions for his trip to this country. Speaking to a crowd of more than 13,000 people on the White House lawn, he said, “I trust my presence will be a source of renewal and hope for the church in the United States.”

That is a big task, but with the right actions, he has the opportunity to make it so.