I was privileged to have been in Rome with the family this Easter and, especially, to have participated along with thousands of others in the candle-lit Via Crucis presided over by Pope Benedict XVI at the Colosseum on the night of April 2. This followed the Good Friday liturgical service at St Peter's Basilica.
The Holy Father was evidently suffering deeply within, as could be detected from his intonation and demeanour, and one just could not help feeling that he was truly sharing in the passion of Our Lord, accompanying Him every painful step of the way on the same road to Calvary. I can only hope that the presence of those supportive crowds, like Simon of Cyrene, served to lighten the weight of the cross, which he is being made to carry by all those who have sought to slander his good name by the vilest of false accusations.
Indeed, many have been the calls of "crucify him, crucify him", which have been uttered by various reporters and contributors in the international media. Yet, like Christ before Pilate, and just as innocent, he speaks not one word in his own defence and, like a lamb to the slaughter, nobly bears the whole brunt of the terrible sins of others within the Catholic Church who have betrayed the very cause to which they once vowed allegiance. Those who wish the Catholic Church no good accuse His Holiness of having, in the 1980s and 1990s, while Archbishop of Munich and Freising and shortly thereafter as cardinal and later when Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stopped action from being taken against alleged abuser priests, thereby attempting to embroil him personally in the scandal that has shaken the very foundations of the Church.
In keeping with the modern trend of mob justice through newspaper and television trials, His Holiness is declared to be guilty as charged although not one shred of evidence is brought forward to positively implicate him in any personal wrongdoing, whether by commission or omission. He is not even accorded the presumption of innocence, let alone given the benefit of the doubt, and the odd document unearthed from some obscure place is taken completely out of context.
His Holiness has emphatically described sexual abuse of minors by priests as a "heinous crime" and, in his pastoral letter to Ireland, he admitted to "a well-intentioned but misguided tendency to avoid penal approaches to canonically irregular situations".
Clearly, the thinking within the Church in the societal conditions obtaining 20-30 years ago on the best way in which to tackle these painful incidents, guided also by medical opinion current at the time, was very different to what it is today. The problem, in fact, is that people are seeking to apply today's more advanced thinking, matured by experience over time and on a subject that has witnessed significantly increased global public awareness in recent years, to singular incidents that occurred many years ago. For instance, the very grave case of Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, a Wisconsin priest who allegedly molested as many as 200 deaf boys, occurred between 1950 and 1974. One would be forgiven for thinking it happened yesterday.
Although hardly any consolation, yet, in fairness, it must also be conceded that this serious psychological disorder which is paedophilia, in which an adult adolescent experiences a sexual preference for pre-pubescent children, is not confined to a certain number of priests within the Catholic Church but is, unfortunately, far more widespread than that, occurring even within families. Furthermore, it has nothing to do with the celibate status of ordained priests, yet another falsehood being bandied about in a bid to attack the noble status of celibacy within the Catholic Church. A person having paedophiliac tendencies will not be cured of his problem by marriage but would remain equally prone to abusing. A married paedophile priest would simply give rise to an additional problem and would only cause a greater scandal, the more so if he abused his own children.
The incumbent Summum Pontificem might not be as charismatic as his predecessor, the well-loved Pope John Paul II, but we are indeed blessed to have in Pope Benedict XVI a brilliant mind, a profuse and profound writer and a staunch and tireless defender of traditional Catholic doctrine and values, which today's materialistic and egocentric world so badly needs to rediscover.
Cardinal Angelo Sodano spoke for Catholics around the world when he assured His Holiness on Easter Sunday in rain-drenched St Peter's Square: "With this spirit today we rally close around you, successor to Peter, bishop of Rome, the unfailing rock of the Holy Church. Holy Father, on your side are the people of God..."
The pastoral visit of His Holiness to these islands this weekend, following in the footsteps of St Paul, will be his first overseas foray since his having been so unjustly and disrespectfully treated. I have no doubt that the Maltese will truly kindle a fire and extend to him the same warm welcome with which Paul was greeted and the faith embraced here nearly 2,000 years ago.