April 18, 2008
Pope Meets with Catholic Church Sex Abuse Victims
Photograph of Pope Benedict at Nationals Parks in Washington, DC by Gerald Herbert/AP
Pope Benedict's trip the United States is already historic, but yesterday he did something that heightened the dramatic quotient of his journey: He privately met with five or six people who had been sexually abused by priests in the Boston area.
Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley also gave Pope Benedict a notebook with the names of almost 1,500 men and women, who were abused by priests from the Boston Archdiocese over the past six decades. The NY Times reports the pope "had requested the meeting" and the "pope prayed and spoke personally with each of them, in a meeting that lasted about 25 minutes." A Vatican official said some wept.
One victim, Olan Horne, 48, told the Boston Globe he gave the pope a photograph of himself as a "as a 9-year-old boy, just before the Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham started molesting him." Horne said, "I asked him to forgive me for hating his church and hating him. He said, 'My English isn't good, but I want you to know that I can understand you, and I think I can understand your sorrow.'"
In an hour, NY Archdiocese officials as well as local officials (Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Paterson) will be on hand to welcome Pope Benedict to the Big Apple. There will be many street closures, mostly in Manhattan, as the Pope visits the U.N., the Park East Synagogue, and St. Joseph's Church today.
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25 minutes each? or he spoke with each of them personally in a total of 25 minute?
When is someone going to Photoshop a baseball into his hand?
Did he want to meet them all in a private room by themselves? he probably got off on it.
POPE GO HOME!
Looks more like the mechanics of throwing a football. I bet he can throw a tight spiral.
On another topic, I wonder why god wants the pope to wield a solid gold staff. That's some serious bling that could buy a lot of food for starving sexually abused kids in boston and africa.
Good PR for a struggling corporation.
At least someone in that mess of a church finally acknowledged that it was/is happening.
The pope needs a fashion makeover. The mitre is so Assyrian. You ain't never going to get laid wearing that. But I do know some gay guys who dig the outfit--and the room for two vestments.
"Good PR for a struggling corporation."
If it were meant to be a PR stunt The Holy Father would have met them in public with camera and reporters and photo ops. This wasn't even announced beforehand. B16 is a great man for doing this.
[8] he is indeed a great man, as his speech at the UN in a little while will further attest to.
SP, the Catholic Church is the largest charity organization on the planet. The fine materials used in vestments and the celebration of the Mass symbolically reflect the majesty of God. Even St. Francis of Assisi--who loved poverty, refused to own anything and gave everything to the poor--insisted that vessels which held the Eucharist (which Catholics believe to be the body of Christ) should be made of gold or another fine material. The Church can hardly be criticized for its efforts to help the less fortunate over its two thousand year history, but it also aims to lift people's contemplation to God and eternal life through the celebration of the sacraments, and the use of materials such as gold, silver, etc. for vestments is part of that.
he probably asked them to describe the abuse in explicit detail and diddled himself under his robe!
seems pretty accurate to me!
for all you so called bible thumpers
http://thewall.net/view/362/prophecy1-antichrist/
its official the pope is the anti-christ
I doubt he staff is solid gold.. it would weigh hundreds of pounds if it was.