VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI's personal preacher asked the pontiff Friday to declare a day of fasting and penance to publicly declare repentance and express solidarity with the victims of clerical sex abuse.
In a strongly worded lecture, he denounced the "abominations" committed inside the Roman Catholic Church "by its own ministers and pastors" and declared that the church "paid a high price for this."
"The moment has come, after the emergency, to do the most important thing of all: to cry before God," the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa said in the first of a series of pre-Christmas lectures in the presence of the pope in a Vatican chapel.
Cantalamessa suggested that the church "indicate a day of fasting and penance, at local and national level, where the problem was particularly strong, to publicly express repentance before God and solidarity with the victims."
The Vatican had no immediate comment on the speech.
Benedict had recently said the church must urgently rebuild confidence and trust damaged by clerical sex abuse, telling Irish bishops in October that "the wounds caused by such acts run deep."
The comments to bishops from Ireland - which along with the church in the United States was hard hit by the scandal - were the first explicit remarks by Benedict on the subject since he became pontiff.
In March 2005, Benedict, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, denounced what he called "filth" in the church "even among those ... in the priesthood." Those words were seen by many as a possible denunciation of the clergy sexual abuse scandals.
Cantalamessa cited the pope's words to the Irish bishops, but also took a swipe at those "seeking to profit from the sensation, even profiting from their own sins, releasing interviews, writing memoirs in an attempt to throw the blame on their superiors and the religious community."
By Cindy Wooden
12/15/2006
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Catholic Church's tears of shame for the fact that some of its priests sexually abused children should be transformed into tears of repentance, the preacher of the papal household told Pope Benedict XVI and top Vatican officials.
Offering an Advent meditation Dec. 15, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa said the church "has paid a very high price" for the sins of some of its priests, is making reparations to the victims, and is adopting "ironclad rules to ensure the abuses are not repeated."
"The moment has come to do the most important thing: cry before God," the preacher said.
The church, Father Cantalamessa said, must mourn "for the offense given to the body of Christ and the scandal given to the smallest of its members, rather than for the damage and dishonor it has caused us."
Especially in dioceses and nations where the number of cases has been large, he said, there should be an official proclamation of "a day of fasting and penance" to publicly ask forgiveness of God and of the victims.
Father Cantalamessa also said the guilty priests must be given assistance so that they recognize their sins and reconcile themselves with God.
"But there is one thing these brothers absolutely must avoid, something unfortunately some are trying to do: profit from the uproar to lessen their own guilt, giving interviews or writing memoirs in an attempt to place the blame on their superiors and the church community. This reveals a truly dangerous hardness of heart," he said.
The Capuchin's Advent meditation focused on the passage from the beatitudes that says, "Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted."
He told the pope and Vatican officials that the most beautiful tears are tears of joy shed in gratitude for signs of love and forgiveness, but such tears come only after mourning for one's own sins and shortcomings.
