In his most significant pronouncement since he resigned the papacy in 2013, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has written a lengthy essay on clerical sex abuse in which he explains what he sees as the roots of the crisis, the effects it has had on the priesthood, and how the Church should best respond.I feel as if this is old news already since it is all over mainstream media, but I wanted to give a heads-up for anyone who wanted to read sources instead of sound bites.
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The essay is divided into three parts. The first is an examination of the “wider societal context” of the crisis, in which he says he tries to show that an “egregious event” occurred in the 1960s “on a scale unprecedented in history.”
A second section deals with the effects of this on the “formation of priests and on the lives of priests.”
And in a third part he develops “some perspectives for a proper response on the part of the Church.”
I read the National Catholic Register summary, which is quite thorough, and it made a lot of sense to me.
You can read the whole essay at the Catholic News Agency. I've not read the actual essay yet but have printed it out.
Just glancing through it, this looks like classic, thoughtful, thorough Benedict XVI ... and it makes me realize how much I've missed his writing. With a few zingers like this one which made me laugh out loud:
What must be done? Perhaps we should create another Church for things to work out? Well, that experiment has already been undertaken and has already failed.(Thanks to Mark for pointing that one out to me.)
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