It was the Catholic calendar's holiest moment — the Mass celebrating the resurrection of Christ. But with Pope Benedict XVI accused of failing to protect children from abusive priests, Easter Sunday also was a high-profile opportunity to play defense.
"Holy Father, on your side are the people of God," Cardinal Angelo Sodano told the pontiff, whom victims of clergy sexual abuse accuse of helping to shape and perpetuate a climate of cover-up. Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, dismissed those claims as "petty gossip."
The ringing tribute at the start of a Mass attended by tens of thousands in St. Peter's Square marked an unusual departure from the Vatican's Easter rituals, infusing the tradition-steeped religious ceremony with an air of a papal pep rally.
Dressed in gold robes and shielded from a cool drizzle by a canopy, Benedict looked weary during much of the Mass, the highlight of a heavy Holy Week schedule. But as he listened intently to Sodano's paean, a smile broke across the pope's face, and when the cardinal finished speaking, Benedict rose from his chair in front of the altar to embrace him.
"[A]n air of a pep rally"? I suppose the characterization will be labeled as more persecution by the media.
Jewish leaders, and even some top Catholic churchmen, were angered after Benedict's personal preacher, in a Good Friday sermon, likened the growing accusations against the pope to the campaign of anti-Semitic violence that culminated in the Holocaust.
The preacher, the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, told Corriere della Sera daily in an interview Sunday that he had no intention "of hurting the sensibilities of the Jews and of the victims of pedophilia," expressed regret and asked for forgiveness.
He was quoted as saying that the pope wasn't aware of what the sermon would say beforehand, and that no Vatican officials read the text before the Good Friday service.
The apology satisfied one Jewish leader, Elan Steinberg, vice president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants.
"Now that he has apologized and the Vatican has distanced itself from those remarks, the matter is closed," Steinberg said in a statement.
Since Fr Cantalamessa apologized, I won't say more about the matter, either.
Meanwhile back in Anglicanland comes another apology.
From the BBC:
The Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed his "deep sorrow" for any difficulties caused by his comments about the Catholic Church in Ireland.
His claim that the Church had lost all credibility because of its handling of child abuse by priests was criticised by both Catholic and Anglican clergy.
The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said he was "stunned".
Dr Rowan Williams later telephoned Archbishop Martin to insist he meant no offence to the Irish Catholic Church.
BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott said Dr Williams' words represented unusually damning criticism from the leader of another Church.
Did Archbishop Williams speak anything but the truth? It seems to me that he had nothing for which to apologize. Once again, the ABC waffles and ends up pleasing no one.
The Guardian points out that "Williams produced an uncharacteristically political apology – which is to say that he regrets the offence he has caused, but not the offending remark". The radio broadcast can now be heard here.
ReplyDeleteLapin, I know, I know. Rowan is not sorry for what he said, just sorry that he caused offense. I'm tired to death of this kind of hair-splitting and double talk from Rowan.
ReplyDeleteI've been known to say the same thing myself, Mimi, and when i do,I don't see it as hair-splitting.
ReplyDeleteLapin, when you say similar words, do you consider that you have apologized? I like plain-speaking. If you're not sorry, then don't say you're sorry.
ReplyDeleteHow can you say, "You're a mess", and not expect to cause offense? Perhaps if you say, "I don't mean to offend you, but you're a mess"? I don't think so.
No, I don't feel that I have apologized. I say it when I am genuinely disturbed that someone has taken offense at what I have said, but when, nevertheless, I feel what I have said strongly enough that I am not prepared to withdraw it.
ReplyDeleteI suspect RW may even have said it knowing it would cause upset and with his "apology" prepared beforehand, as a way of making his point while trying to ward off the consequences at the same time, as it were.
ReplyDeleteHe's got a chess brain. I wouldn't be surprised if he thinks out all the possible countermoves before he says something. In fact I would be surprised if he doesn't.
I wouldn't be surprised if he thinks out all the possible countermoves before he says something.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised, either, but what a way to live one's life. Although, I should not talk, because I'm the opposite. Words sometimes come out of my mouth seemingly without passing through my brain.
Words sometimes come out of my mouth seemingly without passing through my brain
ReplyDeletehey Mimi - me too!!!! Go Mimi!!!!
It's good tho, isn't it.
Mimi, Cathy, I suffer from the same syndrome.
ReplyDeleteMimi--you say that like it's a bad thing...
ReplyDeleteI'll be honest--I don't trust, or care for, people whose every word is a political or theological calculation. I want to know where you stand. I don't pull my punches, and I feel a lot more comfortable with others who act the same way.
Of course there is a reason why I am not a professional diplomat... ;-)
Cheers,
Doxy
I would not make a good diplomat either, Doxy. At some (inconvenient, no doubt) point, I'd blurt out, "OK, let's cut the crap."
ReplyDeleteIf the Irish catholics want to know the value of a Rowan Williams' apology they should ask a gay Anglican.
ReplyDeleteLet me think. Do I know any gay Anglicans?
ReplyDelete