ITALY:Senior Vatican figure, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes has called for special prayer sessions worldwide for the victims of clerical sex abuse, writes Paddy Agnewin Rome.
In an interview last weekend with the Vatican daily, L'Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Hummes confirmed that the initiative has the full backing of Pope Benedict XVI, adding: "In the church, there are always problems because we are all sinners. However, in recent times some very serious issues have been revealed. Obviously, it is important to remember that only a tiny minority of priests have been involved in serious cases, less than 1 per cent has anything to do with problems related to their moral and sexual conduct. The vast majority of priests have nothing to do with these matters."
Cardinal Hummes, at one time considered a possible candidate for pope, confirmed that a letter has already been sent to bishops urging them to promote initiatives in their dioceses for such special prayers.
In the letter, the bishops are urged to organise "constant" prayers "for the victims of those serious situations of (improper) moral and sexual conduct by a very small part of the clergy".
As prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, prior to his election as Pope, Benedict promoted a "zero tolerance" policy for those priests involved in sexual abuse cases. Just weeks before his election he delivered a hard-hitting Easter address in which he spoke of the need to clean out the "filth and dirt" in a small segment of the clergy.
In his annual Feast of Epiphany address yesterday, Benedict was again in hard-hitting mode, criticising globalisation and the obsession with luxury prevalent in many parts of the world. In his homily in the Basilica of St Peter, the Pope said: "One cannot say that globalisation is synonymous with world order - it is the opposite. The conflicts for economic supremacy, and the scramble for energy and water resources and raw materials render difficult the work of all those who strive to construct a more just and united world. We need a greater hope which allows us to prefer the common good of all to the luxury of few and the poverty of many."