Pope tells New England bishops U.S. church can heal from abuse wounds

Published: 2004-09-02

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Addressing bishops from Boston and other New England dioceses, Pope John Paul II said he was confident that the church in the United States could heal the wounds caused by the sex abuse scandal. While the cases of priestly abuse have "cast a shadow" on the church, they must never be allowed to weaken Catholics' public witness of faith and hope, the pope said Sept. 2. At the same time, the pontiff offered special words of encouragement to the many good priests he said have "suffered deeply because of the much-publicized failings of some of the church's ministers." The pope made the comments in a text that he read in part to some 25 bishops during a meeting at his summer residence outside Rome. The pope had been meeting individually all week with the prelates, who were on their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican, which heads of dioceses are required to make every five years. Among the prelates was Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, who in a short speech to the pope spoke of the "great pain" caused by the sex abuse cases.

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