Pope regrets clergy sex abuse of children in Canada

Tag: canada

Richard Owen in Rome

Pope Benedict XVI today (Wednesday) said he regretted sexual abuse inflicted on Native American children by clergy for decades in Roman Catholic schools in Canada.

Meeting representatives of the victims in the Vatican, the Pope expressed his "sorrow at the anguish caused by the deplorable conduct of some members of the Church and offered his sympathy and prayerful solidarity," according to a Vatican statement.

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It said: "His Holiness emphasised that acts of abuse cannot be tolerated in society. He prayed that all those affected would experience healing, and he encouraged First Nations peoples to continue to move forward with renewed hope".

Phil Fontaine, grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Canada, said the Pope had "very clearly" shown that "he is sorry and feels our suffering". The former pupils were accompanied by Archbishop V. James Weisgerber of Winnipeg, President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

He said the pontiff had expressed "his regret, his sorrow and his pain at what happened to the aboriginal people" in some of the residential schools, which were abolished in the 1990s. Three quarters were run by the Catholic Church. The delegates gave the Pope traditional moccasins, eagle feathers, blankets and native Indian Bibles as gifts.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comm...198266.ece