The American Catholic Church must recognize its failings in the priestly sexual abuse scandal and rise up again with determination to heal the deep wounds, Pope John Paul told U.S. bishops on Friday.
The 84-year-old Pope, addressing a group of bishops from Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, said the leaders of the United States Catholic Church had to first renew themselves spiritually in order to truly renew their Church.
"I have shared the deep pain which you and your people have experienced in these last years," the pope said, adding he was aware of the U.S. bishops' "determination to deal fairly and forthrightly" with the issues raised by the scandal.
The sexual abuse crisis erupted in 2002 when it was discovered that many U.S. bishops had simply moved priests known to have abused minors to new parishes instead of defrocking them or reporting them to the authorities.
Since then, some U.S. dioceses have been forced to file for bankruptcy protection from lawsuits by abuse victims seeking millions of dollars.
Speaking at the last of a series of visits by U.S. bishops to the Vatican this year, the pope said the scandal would be meaningless and the pain wasted if the Church did not learn from it.
"Can we not see in the pain and scandal of recent years both a sign of the times and a providential call to conversion and deeper fidelity to the demands of the Gospel?," the pope asked.
"In the life of each believer and the life of the whole Church, a sincere examination of conscience and the recognition of failure is always accompanied by renewed confidence in the healing power of God's grace and a summons to press on to what lies ahead," he said.
"RENEW YOURSELVES FIRST"
He told the bishops that they had a "duty of building up the Church" and that mission "must necessarily begin with your own spiritual renewal."
Reaction to the pontiff's message varied among U.S. victims of clergy sexual abuse.
"Talk is cheap," said David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "At this juncture, children at risk and victims who are hurting need more than platitudes. We need decisive action and accountability."
But Gary Bergeron, who has said he was abused as a boy by the late Rev. Joseph Birmingham, was hopeful that the pope's words would help victims heal.
"The words spoken today indicate a long asked-for step in the right direction," he said.
Some critics of the U.S. Church have said the scandal was able to develop because some of the bishops had distanced themselves from ordinary Catholics and led too princely a lifestyle.
On Friday, the pope urged them to "adopt a lifestyle marked by that evangelical poverty which represents an indispensable condition for a fruitful episcopal ministry."
In his address to the Pope on behalf of the group Archbishop Harry Joseph Flynn of Minneapolis and Saint Paul assured the pontiff that U.S. bishops were struggling "to restore the integrity of the priesthood and to provide adequate safeguards against those who would sadly misuse their sacred office."
A study released earlier this year said more than 10,600 children had reported being molested by U.S. priests since 1950.
The U.S. Church has paid more than $700 million in damages to abuse victims, including some $85 million paid out by the Archdiocese of Boston, where the scandal first hit the headlines.