教皇严厉谴责侵犯者 向被性侵儿童道歉

教皇本笃十六世二十日发表公开信，向被爱尔兰神职人员性侵犯的儿童道歉，表示对事件感到羞愧及悔疚。教皇用了最严厉的措辞谴责侵犯者，说他们出卖了信徒的信任，令教会羞愧，如今必须响应上帝和世俗当局。

There is reaction tonight to the letter from the Pope, expressing his apology to the faithful in Ireland who have been rocked by a sex scandal involving Catholic priests. We get the latest tonight from NBC’s Stephanie Gosk.

The embattled head of the Irish Catholic Church stood before his congregation and delivered a frank and uNPRecedented message straight from Rome. “In the name of the Church, Pope Benedict openly expresses the shame and remorse that we all feel about the abuse.” The Pope addressed his letter to Catholics in Ireland where investigations have uncovered 15, 000 allegations of sexual abuse by priests that span four decades. To the victims, the Pope wrote, “You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry.” To the guilty priests, “Great damage has been done to the Church and to the public perception of the priesthood.” And to the bishops, “Serious mistakes were made in responding to allegations.”

“He wanted, with this letter, to make it clear that the Church as such, has committed a great sin, that the bishop didn’t do their job.” The Pope blames the mishandling of sexual abuse cases on a desire to avoid scandal. From now on, he writes, “The guilty must face God and the police.” But there are those who still believe the Vatican has not gone far enough.

“Catholics in Austria, the Netherlands and Germany were hoping that the pontiff would use this opportunity to address the sexual abuse by priests in their countries as well.” In Germany, hundreds of abuse cases have been revealed since January. Parishioners in this small church want to hear from their Pope. But their priest believes it will take more than just a letter. What happened damage the reputation of the Church, he says, it will take a long time to trust it again.

Stephanie Gosk, NBC News, Rome.