Posted on 12/10/2004 3:55:29 PM PST by Canticle_of_Deborah
Vatican, Dec. 10 (CWNews.com) - Pope John Paul II (bio - news) praised the American bishops for their efforts to overcome the sex-abuse scandal, as he met with the final group of US bishops completing their ad limina meeting on December 10.
The Pope said that during his meetings with all the members of the American hierarchy, over the course of the last several months, he had "witnessed your determination to deal fairly and forthrightly with the serious pastoral issues which have been raised as a result" of the scandal.
The Holy Father stressed that he "shares the deep pain which you and your people have experience in these last years," and urged the American bishops "to persevere joyfully in the ministry entrusted to you."
The scandal, John Paul II said, had given the Church in America "a providential call to conversion and deeper fidelity." The crisis, he added, gave the American bishops an opportunity for "to begin the new millennium by starting afresh from Christ."
The Pontiff also praised the American hierarchy for its efforts "to ensure… that each of the Church's institutions and apostolates expresses, in every aspect of its life, a clear Catholic identity."
In his concluding remarks, the Pope gave the bishops "two urgent tasks" for the coming years: evangelizing the culture, and "building a culture of respect for life."
The Pope's remarks were made to a group of bishops from the province embracing Minnesota and the Dakotas. This was the final group of American bishops to complete the ad limina visit. Beginning in April, all the active members of the US hierarchy had spent a week in Rome for meetings with the Pontiff and the Roman Curia. The bishops made their visits in 14 separate groups, arranged by geographical region and ecclesiastical province.
First we have the pope (or those who speak for the pope) praising the US bishops handling of the sodomite scandal and now we have McCarrick waxing lyrical in support of the mad, modern Jesuits and their anti-Catholic colleges...
http://www1.georgetown.edu/explore/news/?ID=1493
Holy Water-Gate!
http://www.holywater-gate.com/story.shtml
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