Pope Benedict XVI said he would apologize to Australian victims of clerical sex abuse and would talk to the world's young Catholics about the moral obligation to safeguard the environment.
Flying to Australia to preside over the celebration of World Youth Day, Pope Benedict responded to five questions posed by reporters. The questions were submitted in advance and selected by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.
The pope spoke to journalists shortly after his plane took off July 12 from Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport. He arrived 21 hours later at Sydney's Richmond air force base and immediately went to the Opus Dei-run Kenthurst Study Centre for three days of rest.
Asked on the plane if he would apologize to Australian victims of clerical sexual abuse as he apologized in April to those in the United States, the pope said, "Yes, the problem is essentially the same as it is in the United States."
"I felt obliged to speak about it in the United States because it is essential for the church to reconcile, to prevent, to help and also to see the guilt," he said. "And so, I will say essentially the same things that I said in America."
Pope Benedict said that in responding to the crisis, the church must make clear that its constant moral teaching has been that "being a priest is incompatible with this behavior" and that mistakes had been made in programs of priestly formation.
The church's apology, he said, must include assurances that "we will help with the education and preparation of priests and ongoing formation and we will do what is possible to heal and reconcile with the victims."
As he began his flight to Sydney, the pope also was asked if he would speak about environmental issues in Australia, a country that has been suffering drought for years and is a leading voice in the international community for environmental protection.
"Certainly this question will be very present" at the Sydney World Youth Day, the pope said. "We will talk about the Holy Spirit and, consequently, about creation and about our responsibility for creation."
Pope Benedict said he had no intention of trying to address complicated policy issues that are better left to scientists and government leaders, but he hoped to encourage people "to be aware of our responsibility" to care for God's gifts.
He also said he hoped that by reminding people of the Holy Spirit's role in the creation of the world, he could help them "rediscover in the earth the face of the Creator."
All the earth's inhabitants, he said, must "find within ourselves the ethical ability to change our lifestyles, if necessary, to respond to these great challenges."
Pope Benedict also was asked about the late-July gathering of bishops of the Anglican Communion at the Lambeth Conference, which is held every 10 years.
The conference is expected to focus on ways to strengthen the unity of the Anglican Church at a time when differences over the ordination of women and over homosexuality are threatening to divide the church. Some Anglicans, who see the ordination of women and the acceptance of homosexuality as contrary to the Gospel, are considering entering into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
Asked about his hopes for the conference in England, Pope Benedict said, "With my prayers I will be very close to the Anglican bishops who are meeting there.
"We cannot, we must not intervene in their discussions," he said. But "our hope is that they may avoid schisms and splits and that they will find solutions that respond to the questions of our age, but that also are faithful to the Gospel."
As for the main purpose of his visit --- the July 15-20 celebration of World Youth Day --- the pope said he was making the longest flight of his pontificate "with joy."
The international gatherings of Catholic youth, begun by Pope John Paul II, are "great celebrations of faith" that allow young Catholics to meet each other as they grow closer to God.
The young people, he said, "are united in their desire for God and for a world that is truly human."
Pope Benedict also was asked about declining religious practice in Australia. He said that many Australians, who share the financial and technological advances and challenges of their peers in other Western industrialized nations, like them often act as if they do not need God.
But, he said, even if religious practice declines, faith would not disappear because God will not disappear. "Religion is always present in the world and always will be," he said.
Often, the pope said, people do not become aware of God or their need for God until they face a problem that is too big to handle on their own. Then they begin to seek him.
Pope Benedict said sensitivity to climate change and other environmental damage is helping some people recognize their dependence on God as they discover "the Creator in creation." ---CNS |