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Benedict XVI addresses sex abuse scandal </h1>
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<a class="gmail-sf-author__link" href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/author/catholic-news-agency/" rel="author"><span>https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2019/04/11/benedict-xvi-addresses-sex-abuse-scandal/<br></span></a>
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11 April, 2019
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Pope Benedict XVI addresses the faifthful for the last time on February 28, 2013 (Getty Images) </div>
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<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The emeritus pope</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> said</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>a crisis in</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>moral theology</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> led </b></span>
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the Church</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>unable</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>to defend itself agains</b></span>t <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the social changes of the
1960s </b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>In an <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/full-text-of-benedict-xvi-the-church-and-the-scandal-of-sexual-abuse-59639">essay published</a>
Thursday at CNA, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI offered<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"> his thoughts </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">about<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> </span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the sex abuse crisis facing</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> the Church.</b></span> Benedict reviewed the sexual
revolution of the 1960s, and examined its effects on priestly formation
and life, before suggesting the Church’s proper response.</p>
<p>“Today, the accusation against God is, above all, about
characterizing His Church as entirely bad, and thus dissuading us from
it. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>The idea of a better Church, created by ourselves, is in fact a
proposal of the devil,</b></span> with which he wants to lead us away from the
living God, through<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> a deceitful logic by which we are too easily duped</b></span>,”
Benedict wrote in “The Church and the Scandal of sexual abuse,” <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/full-text-of-benedict-xvi-the-church-and-the-scandal-of-sexual-abuse-59639">published April 11</a>.</p>
<p>“No, even today the Church is not just made up of bad fish and weeds.<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>
The Church of God also exists today, and today it is the very
instrument through which God saves us.</b></span>”</p>
<p>The emeritus pope’s essay was published simultaneously in German at
Klerusblatt, in Italian at Corriere della Sera, and in English at
Catholic News Agency and the National Catholic Register.</p>
<p>The former pope said the sex abuse crisis cannot be understood apart
from its wider social context, noting that <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>“in the 1960s an egregious
event occurred … the <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">previously normative standards</span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">regarding sexuality</span>
collapsed entirely, and a new normalcy arose.”</b></span></p>
<p>“This was in many ways a very difficult time … <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the extensive collapse
of the next generation of priests in those years and the very high
number of laicizations were a consequence of all these developments.”</b></span></p>
<p>Concurrently but independently, “<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Catholic moral theology</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>suffered a
collapse</b></span> that rendered the Church defenseless against these changes in
society,” he wrote.</p>
<p>The crisis of moral theology <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>led to an abandonment of </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(249,203,156)"><b>the idea of
intrinsic evil,</b></span> and<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> a rejection of</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the role of the Magisterium</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> by some
theologians</b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">, to which</span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"> the 1993 encyclical Veritatis splendor was, in
part, a response.</span></p>
<p>Benedict wrote: “<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>There are values which must never <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">be abandoned</span></b></span> for a
greater value and even surpass the preservation of physical life,”
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>calling martyrdom “a basic category of Christian existence.”</b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>“There is a minimum set of morals which is indissolubly linked to the
foundational principle of faith </b></span>and which must be defended if faith is
not to be reduced to a theory but rather to be recognized in its claim
to concrete life,” the emeritus pope reflected.</p>
<p>He also discussed <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>the ecclesial reaction to</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> pedophilia,</b></span> noting that
the 1983 Code of Canon Law “<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>did not seem sufficient</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> for taking the
necessary measures</b></span>,” and that over time “a renewal and deepening of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the
deliberately loosely constructed criminal law of the new Code began to
take shape.”</b></span></p>
<p>Benedict reflected on Christ’s saying that “<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> Whoever causes one of
these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him
if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into
the sea.”</b></span></p>
<p>“The phrase <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>‘the little ones’ in the language of Jesus means</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the
common believers who</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> can be confounded in their faith by the
intellectual arrogance of those who think they are clever. </b></span>So<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">here Jesus
protects the deposit of the faith with an emphatic threat of</span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>punishment
to those who do it harm</b></span>,” he explained.</p>
<p>“The modern use of the sentence is not in itself wrong, but it must
not obscure the original meaning,” in which it is clear “that it is not
only the right of the accused that is important and requires a
guarantee. Great goods such as the Faith are equally important.”</p>
<p>“A balanced canon law that corresponds to the whole of Jesus’ message
must therefore not only provide a guarantee for the accused, the
respect for whom is a legal good. It must also protect the Faith … <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>A
properly formed canon law must therefore contain a double guarantee –
legal protection of</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> the accused,</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>legal protection of the good at stake. </b></span>
If <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>today </b></span>one puts forward this inherently clear conception, <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>one </b></span>
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>generally falls on deaf ears</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>when it comes to the question of the
protection of the Faith as a legal good. </b></span>In the general awareness of the
law, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the Faith</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> no longer appears to</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>have the rank of a good requiring
protection. </b></span>This is an alarming situation which must be considered and
taken seriously by the pastors of the Church.”</p>
<p>He said the decision to give competence for cases of clerical
pedophilia to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, rather
than the Congregation for the Clergy “is a consequence of the importance
of the Faith for the Church. In fact, it is important to see that <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>such
misconduct by clerics ultimately damages</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the Faith.”</b></span></p>
<p>Benedict finally turned to <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>what ought to be done: “Only obedience and love for our Lord Jesus Christ can point the way.”</b></span></p>
<p>“The Lord has initiated a narrative of love with us and wants to
subsume all creation in it. The counterforce against evil, which
threatens us and the whole world, can ultimately only consist in our
entering into this love. It is the real counterforce against evil. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>The
power of evil arises from our refusal to</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> love God.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>He who entrusts
himself to the love of God is redeemed</b></span>. Our being not redeemed is a
consequence of our inability to love God. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Learning to love God is
therefore the path of human redemption.”</b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>“A paramount task</b></span>, which must result from the moral upheavals of our
time, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>is that we ourselves once again begin to live by God and unto Him</b>.</span>
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> Above all, we ourselves must learn again to recognize God as the
foundation of our life instead of<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> leaving</span> Him<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> aside,</span>”</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>Benedict stated.</b></span></p>
<p>The emeritus pope also said <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>there must be a profound appreciation of
</b></span>the astoundingness of the Incarnation, and, through it, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Christ’s
presence in the Eucharist.</b></span></p>
<p>“The Second Vatican Council was rightly focused on returning this
sacrament of the Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ … to the
center of Christian life and the very existence of the Church. In part,
this really has come about, and we should be most grateful to the Lord
for it.”</p>
<p>But <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>“a rather different attitude is prevalent,</b></span>” he said. “<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>What
predominates is</b></span> not a new reverence for the presence of Christ’s death
and resurrection, but<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> a way of dealing with<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> Him </span>that destroys<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> the
greatness of the Mystery,”</span></b></span> citing<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> declining </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>participation in Sunday Mass
and <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">treatment of </span>the Eucharis</b></span>t <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>as “a mere ceremonial gesture.”</b></span></p>
<p><u><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>“We do not need <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">another Church of our own design</span></b></span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Rather, what is
required first and foremost is the renewal of the Faith in the Reality
of Jesus Christ given to us in the Blessed Sacrament.”</b></span></u></p>
<p>While “there is sin in the Church and evil … even today there is the
Holy Church, which is indestructible. Today there are many people who
humbly believe, suffer and love, in whom the real God, the loving God,
shows Himself to us.”</p>
<p>“I<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>n the trial against <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the devil,</span> Jesus Christ is the first and actual
witness for God, the first martyr, who has since been followed by
countless others.”</b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Witnesses can be found today “who stand up for God with their life
and suffering.</b></span> It is an inertia of the heart that leads us to not wish
to recognize them. One of the great and essential tasks of our
evangelization is, as far as we can, to establish habitats of Faith and,
above all, to find and recognize them,” Benedict concluded.</p>
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