The pope wrote a pastoral letter to Ireland. He told the victims of priestly child sexual abuses, “You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry.” So that’s okay then.
“Many of you found that, when you were courageous enough to speak of what happened to you, no one would listen.” He failed to mention the Cardinal Brady, who did listen – and then swore the children to silence (on the Bible? we still don’t know).
“It is in the communion of the Church that we encounter the person of Jesus Christ, who was himself a victim of injustice and sin. Like you, he still bears the wounds of his own unjust suffering.” Of course Catholics make paintings and stained-glass windows of Jesus receiving his wounds and wear little replicas of the instrument which inflicted those wounds around their necks...
The pope addressed the child abusers: “Sincere repentance opens the door to God’s forgiveness and the grace of true amendment. By offering prayers and penances for those you have wronged, you should seek to atone personally for your actions.” You know where they’d have plenty of time to offer prayers and penances? Prison. I must have missed the part of the letter where he told them to turn themselves in to the police, confess their crimes, and plead guilty. Maybe it just slipped his mind.
After he wrote the letter, he held a “special audience” with the Italian Civil Aviation Authority, and tried on a pilot’s hat. Remember: in the Vatican, it’s all about the hats.
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