Pope meets abuse victims, expresses shame, sorrow for their suffering

(April 19, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI met eight victims of priestly sex abuse in Malta on Sunday and promised them the Church would do "all in its power" to bring offenders to justice and protect children. The Pope was "deeply moved by their stories and expressed his shame and sorrow over what victims and their families have suffered," a Vatican statement said after the private encounter. "He prayed with them and assured them that the church is doing, and will continue to do, all in its power to investigate allegations, to bring to justice those responsible for abuse and to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future," the statement said. "In the spirit of his recent letter to the Catholics of Ireland, he prayed that all the victims of abuse would experience healing and reconciliation, enabling them to move forward with renewed hope," it said. The Pope was in Malta, Saturday and Sunday, to mark the 1950^th anniversary of the shipwreck of St. Paul off Malta.
The meeting at the apostolic nunciature in Rabat, after the Mass in Floriana, came after a group of victims had asked to meet the Pope to tell him of their ordeal and ask for an apology. The encounter was not part of the Pope's official itinerary and was only announced publicly by the Vatican after it had happened. Participants said the victims cried as they told their stories, and that the Pope had tears in his eyes as he listened. "We now have peace in our hearts, even because the Pope found time to meet us. We now look forward to the end of the court case, and closure of this chapter," one unidentified victim told the Times of Malta.
Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, told journalists that the private meeting in the chapel of the nunciature lasted about 20 minutes. He said the Pope, Archbishop Paul Cremona of Malta, Bishop Mario Grech of Gozo and eight male victims of abuse began the encounter kneeling in silent prayer. The Pope then stood by the altar and met each victim one by one to hear his story and to speak with each privately, Father Lombardi said. The victims were in their 30s and 40s, Father Lombardi said. At the end of the meeting, participants said a prayer together in Maltese and the Pope blessed the victims. One victim said the Pope gave each of them a rosary and promised them they would be in his prayers.
One of the victims, Lawrence Grech, told the Maltese paper that the two bishops with them shed tears during their meeting. "I admire the Pope for his courage in meeting us. He was embarrassed by the failings of others," said Grech, one of the victims who had asked for the papal meeting. Another victim, Joseph Magro, 38, told Associated Press Television News, “Everybody was crying.” “I told him my name was Joseph, and he had tears in his eyes.” He and others were abused as boys by four priests at St. Joseph Orphanage in Santa Venera.