TORONTO -- The leader of U.S. bishops told more than 3,200 young adult Catholics from around the world Wednesday that they should answer questions and criticism about the sex abuse scandal in the USA with love and pride.
Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, addressed the issue after being asked by a young woman how she should respond when people ask her about abusive priests or ''berate the church?''
''Those are not really questions. They are attacks. They are insults,'' to be answered with love and with pride, Gregory replied to applause.
Gregory, of Belleville, Ill., was among 136 bishops leading teaching hours and celebrating Mass as part of Pope John Paul II's 17th World Youth Day festival. In attendance are 55,000 young adults from the USA and more than 150,000 from Canada and 170 other nations.
Gregory focused primarily on the religious themes of the day. He challenged the young Roman Catholics to be the salt of the earth -- the theme of the gathering based on Christ's exhortation to his disciples to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
But Gregory also referred to the scandal in his opening message: ''Institutions have disappointed too many people,'' he said.
''Almost every institution has experienced scandal, has experienced a loss of credibility. . . . Too many young people even doubt the holiness of the church and our confidence in Jesus Christ,'' Gregory said. ''Never allow anyone to make you believe that the broken, the sinful, the faulty parts of the church are the whole church.''
Several small groups of critics held a news conference Wednesday and denounced the church hierarchy for ignoring the scandal. They called on the pope to meet with them.
About 60 miles away, the pope spent Wednesday resting at an island retreat before today's scheduled welcoming ceremony. On Friday, he will meet with 14 people representing the world's youth.
The young Catholics, most ages 16 to 35, will stage a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross and hold an all-night vigil Friday. A final Mass is scheduled Sunday.
The pope then continues the 97th trip of his papacy with visits to Guatemala and Mexico.