“Woe to the one who causes the scandal,” Francis said, quoting a scriptural passage during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square. The pontiff then asked for forgiveness.
“I would like to ask for forgiveness in the name of the church for the scandals that have happened in this last period, both in Rome and at the Vatican,” the pope said.
It was not clear which scandal(s) prompted the pope’s apology. The New York Times reported that a Vatican spokesman said the choice to remain vague was deliberate:
Asked about the pope’s public apology on Wednesday, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said Francis had deliberately not identified any one scandal, adding that if he had wanted to, he could have.
The decision for a blanket apology was probably because over the last few weeks, there have been several recent crises that have affected the Vatican. Grant Gallicho, associate editor of Commonweal, outlined the lengthy list:
[W]hat was Francis apologizing for? Take your pick: The sexual-abuse scandal (as he did in Philadelphia)? The leak of a letter criticizing the synod process signed by who-knows-how-many cardinals, which Cardinal Müller* recently compared to the Vatileaks scandal (more on that in a moment)? The Polish priest who announced he was in a relationship with another man—and that there are many more like him—on the eve of the synod? The Polish priest who had been spokesman for World Youth Day until it came to light that he had fathered a child? The absurdly ostentatious funeral for an alleged mafia boss? The financial scandals of the Vatican Bank? It could be any of these, or others (see John Thavis’s blog), or all. But the fact that Francis offered so general a mea culpa could indicate his frustration with the drip-drip of stories that make it look like little has changed since Benedict’s Vatican fell under the shadow of scandal.
Though Francis’ apology was met with applause, not everyone was happy with the move.
[RELATED: Learn how to quash crisis situations in their tracks with these 10 steps.]
Barbara Dorris, outreach director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, criticized the pontiff for being vague in his apology. She said that asking for forgiveness without taking action is “self-serving,” and she issued a statement that read, in part:
Instead of stopping clergy sex scandals, Pope Francis is again asking forgiveness for them. That may be good public relations but it’s irresponsible leadership.
History, psychology and common sense show that you prevent sexual violence by harshly punishing those who enable sexual violence by ignoring or hiding it. It’s that simple.
But that takes courage, the courage that popes and bishops continue to lack.
What do you make of the pope’s apology, PR Daily readers?
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