Pope: Sex scandal Church persecution

[1]

Lisbon, May 11: Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday described the clerical sexual abuse scandal as “the greatest persecution of the Church,” while acknowledging it arose from sins inside the Church. He called for profound purification and penance within the Church as well as pardon and justice.
Pope Benedict made his comments in response to a question from a reporter on the clerical child abuse scandal as he travelled to Portugal.
The Vatican has been at the centre of a widening sex scandal in which the clergy have been accused of child sex abuse in the United States, Ireland, Germany, Italy and many other countries.
The Church has been criticised for attempting to blame the media and church opponents for the escalation of the scandal which has led to the recent resignation of bishops in Ireland , Belgium and Germany.
In some of his strongest comments to date, Pope Benedict on Tuesday said the Catholic Church had always suffered from internal problems but that “today we see it in a truly terrifying way.” The Pope arrived in Portugal where he was also expected to address Europe’s economic crisis. During the four-day trip, Pope Benedict is scheduled to celebrate open-air masses in the country’s capital, Lisbon, and at the Catholic shrine of Fatima.
On Tuesday, the Pontiff was to due to celebrate an open-air Mass for 80,000 people at a 16th-century square in Lisbon.
Portugal’s economic growth averaged less than one per cent between 2001-2008, and the global downturn caused a serious contraction of 2.7 per cent in 2009.
It is western Europe’s poorest country and has become one of the main casualties of the continent’s economic troubles.
Fatima is one of the main sites for Christian pilgrims in Europe.
The Pope will be marking the anniversary of the day in 1917 when three Portuguese children reportedly had visions of the Virgin Mary in Fatima.