ROME, April 3 (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI held an Easter vigil in St Peter's Square today, in the wake of the latest row over the Church's response to paedophile priests.
Jewish groups and those representing victims of abuse by Catholic priests denounced remarks by the Vatican preacher, who suggested criticism of the Roman Catholic Church over paedophilia scandals was similar to anti-Semitism.
Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher to the Papal Household at the Vatican, made the comments during the ceremony at St Peter's Basilica as the pope looked on.
Speaking during Good Friday observance, he said he was quoting from a letter from a Jewish friend.
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| Pope Benedict XVI unveils the Cross during the Lord's Passion on Good Friday on April 2. AFP |
"The stereotyping, the transfer of personal responsibility and blame to a collective blame reminds me of the most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism,"said Cantalamessa, quoting the letter. "I have followed with disgust the violent attack... against the Church (and) the pope," said the letter, read out by Cantalamessa, who by tradition is the only person allowed to preach to the pope.
Benedict, 82, made no mention of the child abuse controversy during a traditional procession later Friday at Rome's Colosseum re-enacting Jesus Christ's final hours and crucifixion.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told AFP the comments were from "a letter read by the preacher and not the official position of the Vatican."
But the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), the largest and most active of such groups in the United States, denounced the remarks. "It's heart-breaking to see yet another smart, high-ranking Vatican official making such callous remarks that insult both abuse victims and Jewish people," said executive director David Clohessy in a statement.
"The remarks are shameful, inaccurate and a complete distortion of history," Rabbi Marvin Hier, the founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said in a statement. He demanded an apology from the pope himself.
The child abuse scandal has engulfed much of Europe and the United States, prompting harsh criticism of the Vatican's handling of the scourge.
The pope himself faces allegations that, as archbishop of Munich and later as the Vatican's chief morals enforcer, he helped to protect predator priests.
This fresh controversy broke as the pope led the celebrations in what is the holiest week in the Christian calendar. On Sunday he will celebrate Easter mass in St Peter's Square.
The head of the Catholic Church in the pope's native Germany, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, said Good Friday must "mark a new departure which we so badly need."Zollitsch said the abuse cases filled the hearts of Catholics with "pain, fear, and shame," lamenting that many victims had been "unable to express their pain in words for decades."Dozens of people have come forward in Germany alleging they were abused as children by priests. Most cases date back years if not decades.
France became the latest European country to implicate paedophile priests.
A lawyer for Father Jacques Gaimard, director of a Christian radio station in northern France, said he had admitted sexually assaulting a boy in the early 1990s and saw his arrest as a "deliverance" after years of private torment.
But the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano published messages of support for the pope from around the world.
A letter signed by a group of 70 leading French figures expressed horror at crimes of paedophilia and solidarity with the victims while "paying homage to the pope's will to shed light on these cases."The letter, signed by writers, a philosophy professor and a Lutheran pastor among others, accused the media of unfair reporting.
The Osservatore also published messages of support for the pope from the Canadian bishops and from the Latin American Episcopal Conference, both of which attacked media coverage of the story.
But in Austria Friday, the Platform for Victims of Violence by the Church said it had received reports of 174 more cases of maltreatment and sexual abuse in Catholic institutions since creating a hotline two weeks ago.
And in New York, about 10 victims of abuse by paedophile priests demonstrated in front of Saint Patrick's cathedral during the Good Friday service. |
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