Francis also met with victims of clergy sexual abuse on Sunday.
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“The Holy Father talked at the level of principle, but he talked exactly as we had been teaching as bishops”, said Lori, in a phone interview from the World Meeting of Families, the Vatican event that drew the pope.
Taking on one of the most controversial issues to have rocked the Catholic church in many decades, the Pope told hundreds of bishops and seminarians that he had met the victims in private and told them that “all responsible will be held accountable“.
“I admit to a careful oversight to insure that youth are protected and that all responsible will be held accountable”, Francis said in remarks delivered at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, according to a live translation provided by a televised feed.
Francis said immigrants “bring many gifts” to their new nation. “Actions protect children and that has what has been lacking”. The reasons for the resignations were not given, but Robert Finn of Kansas City was convicted in 2012 on charges of failing to report suspected child abuse, and Archbishop John Nienstedt of Minnesota resigned after prosecutors charged his archdiocese with six counts related to a sexually abusive ex-priest. They were accompanied by several clergy members, including Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, whom Francis named to a Vatican anti-abuse commission last spring.
There is some precedent for such a meeting in the USA: In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI met with survivors, so it was not entirely surprising to see the Vatican reach out in this way again during this trip.
In June the Pope approved the creation of a tribunal to hear cases of bishops accused of covering up child abuse by paedophile priests. God weeps. “They’ve proven it again and again”. The weekend’s activities will culminate in an outdoor Mass Sunday evening for 1 million people on the broad Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
The pope spoke at Independence Hall on his first visit to the United States. He is expected to offer them words of hope, forgiveness and redemption.
“Pope Francis is an example of so much”, Bloomfield said.
“Religious freedom certainly means the right to worship God, individually and in community, as our consciences dictate”, he said. He meets often with inmates and has washed prisoners’ feet during pre-Easter rituals.
Marliene McCarthy, 76, a Sister of Mercy, huddled with a small crowd of devotees on a street corner near the prison, hoping for a glimpse of the pontiff. It’s the poor, people of colour who end up in prisons. “He will return there Sunday for the Mass, his last major event before leaving for Rome”.
“Today consumerism determines what is important”.
A debate over religious freedom in America came to a head this month when a Kentucky county clerk was jailed after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, saying it violated her religious beliefs.
USA dioceses have made huge compensation payouts to victims.
People all around Georgette Wilson held up cellphones outside the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on Saturday morning when Pope Francis arrived. “The guy who molested me is in a home, supposedly doing prayer and penance”.
With Independence Hall as his backdrop, where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed, the pope spoke of religious liberty among a very long list of concerns including tyranny, racism, immigration, compassion for the needy and a plea to cheering Latinos in the audience to have pride in their heritage.
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For more on this, read the article from Addicting Info titled: “Jeb Bush Promises Not to Give Freeloading Black People ‘Free Stuff”.
