For the first time on his penitential trip to Canada, Pope Francis asked for forgiveness from all the victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by priests and nuns – “crimes”, according to the sovereign pontiff, “which call for action strong and an irreversible fight.”
At a time when his church in Canada no longer has a shadow of its former power, when scandals continue to sully its holiness and when plaintiffs become legion seeking justice in the courts, Pope Francis has recognized this which was already no longer in doubt in the minds of many people, that members of the clergy are guilty of pedophile acts.
“To announce the gospel, you have to be credible,” warned the pope. The church in Canada has begun a new journey after being hurt and shocked by the evil perpetrated by some of its children. I am thinking in particular of the sexual abuse committed against minors and vulnerable people […] I would like, with you, to once again ask for forgiveness from all the victims. The pain and shame we feel must become an opportunity for conversion. Never again.”
The Holy Father was speaking in the Notre-Dame de Québec basilica-cathedral, in front of an audience made up of the high hierarchy of the Canadian church. At the end of his long homily, the assembled clergy warmly applauded the speech.
The pope thus took advantage of the celebration of Vespers, the last apostolic action of his penitential pilgrimage, to pronounce the most frank words with regard to the abuses perpetrated within his church.
Before his arrival in Canada, plaintiffs had asked the Holy Father to intervene on their behalf with the clergy. They denounced the judicial twists and turns into which the Canadian church embeds each class action brought against it and urged the pope to bring his clergy to heel so that they recognize the abuses perpetrated and grant justice to the victims.
In Quebec, some twenty class actions are currently underway against religious congregations and dioceses. They target, for the moment, more than 700 abusers and represent some 1,500 complainants.
Against the nostalgia of a sacred world
During his long homily, the pope painted a realistic portrait of the state of Catholicism in Canada. “Secularization […] has long since transformed the way of life of women and men today, leaving God in the background. It seems to have disappeared from the horizon, pointed out François. His word no longer seems to be an orientation compass for life.
The pope called on his clergy to be “creative” in “opening new paths” to the Gospel message. In particular, he prayed to the Canadian church not to fall into the “bitterness” of its vanished greatness, at the risk of “sending a misleading message, as if behind the criticism of secularization lurked, on our part, nostalgia of a sacred world, of a world of old where the church and its ministers had a greater social importance.”
Pope Francis, known for his sensitivity to those most in need, has instead called for a church that is more humble and less enamored with material wealth. “The lord, who hates worldliness…”, he said at one point – words that contrasted with the ostentatious gilding of Notre-Dame, magnificent demonstrations of a luxury that swore, for moons, with the call for the stripping of the Gospels – and of the current ruler of the Vatican.