Church seeks forgiveness for abuse

Tag: england

Catholic bishops in England and Wales seek forgiveness for the "profound scandal" carried out by some of their priests and religious figures.


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In a joint statement issued by the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, remorse over the well-known sexual and physical abuse scandals was asserted in a letter. “We express our heartfelt apology and deep sorrow to those who have suffered abuse, those who have felt ignored, disbelieved or betrayed. We ask their pardon, and the pardon of God for these terrible deeds done in our midst.”

The most senior Catholic in Britain, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who is the current archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, and who is Scotland's only cardinal, affirmed that, "One might say there has been a great 'public humiliation' of the church, as, in some way or another, we realise that we have not been as alert as we should have been to the evils being perpetrated."

Recently, Pope Benedict accepted the resignation of Bishop James Moriarty, the third Irish bishop to leave over the scandal. "I accept that from the time I became an auxiliary bishop, I should have challenged the prevailing culture," he said. "I apologise to all survivors and their families." Moriarty was the second of four Irish bishops retired by the Vatican after official reports released last year named him as looking the other way in the sexual abuse of children. Hundreds of cases of sexual and physical abuse have surfaced in Europe and the United States in the past months by long-silent victims going public

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