Pope celebrates Mass for clergy, prays for healing
NEW YORK (CNN) — Pope Benedict XVI again addressed the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal, assuring priests, nuns and other religious of his spiritual closeness as they recover from the scandal’s damage.
I have already had occasion to speak of this, and of the resulting damage to the community of the faithful, he said at Saturday’s Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
I join you in praying that this will be a time of purification for each and every particular church and religious community, and a time for healing. I also encourage you to cooperate with your bishops who continue to work effectively to resolve this issue.
Speaking at a prayer service with U.S. bishops Wednesday in Washington, Benedict said the sexual abuse of children by priests has caused a deep shame and called it gravely immoral behavior.
A day later, Benedict spoke and prayed with a small group of people who say they were sexually abused by members of the clergy.
Saturday’s Mass for members of the religious community marked the third anniversary of Benedict’s election to the papacy.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg greeted Benedict upon his arrival.
The pope entered the sanctuary in a grand procession, wearing gold-trimmed white vestments and a white papal miter embroidered with a gold cross. Surrounded by a retinue of priests, he spread incense around the altar as the Mass began.
The congregation greeted him with prolonged, enthusiastic applause after he was welcomed by Cardinal Edward Egan, archbishop of New York. Watch pope celebrate Mass at St. Patrick’s
St. Patrick’s, which is located on Fifth Avenue, has been considered the center of Catholic life in the United States. It draws millions of visitors each year.
On Friday, Benedict visited Park East Synagogue, becoming the first pope to visit a Jewish house of worship in the United States.
I find it moving to recall that Jesus, as a young boy, heard the words of Scripture and prayed in a place such as this, the pope said.
Congregation members presented the pope with a Passover Seder plate, a religious article placed at the center of the dinner table during the holiday marking the occasion when Jews were led out of slavery in Egypt. He was also given a box of matzoh and a Haggadah, the prayer book used during Passover.
In turn, the pope presented Rabbi Arthur Schneier, leader of the Park East Synagogue, with a Jewish manuscript.
In his welcoming remarks, Schneier called the visit historic.
Earlier, Schneier told CNN the meeting sends a message of goodwill.
We live in a time when religious solidarity, religious leaders, really have to be the role models for cooperation, for coexistence, for mutual acceptance, he said.
Benedict’s three-day visit to New York is the second leg of the pope’s six-day trip to the United States — his first since he was elected to the papacy.
On Friday he visited the United Nations, where he addressed the General Assembly. He urged the diplomats to intervene in nations unable to protect their populations from human rights violations.
Every state has the primary duty to protect its own population from grave and sustained violations of human rights, as well as from the consequences of humanitarian crises, whether natural or man-made, the pope said.
If states are unable to guarantee such protection, the international community must intervene, he said, citing the U.N. Charter and other international instruments.
He is only the third pope ever to address the General Assembly. Pope Paul VI visited in 1965, and Pope John Paul II visited in 1979 and 1995.
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