Monday, July 21, 2008

Papal apologies have been few in church's history; some examples from recent years

Papal apologies have been few in the long history of the Vatican, though Benedict XVI and his predecessor John Paul II in recent years have admitted errors by the church.

Here are some examples:

Pope Benedict XVI

July 19, 2008: Said he was "deeply sorry for the pain and suffering" of victims of child sex abuse by clergy in Australia.

April, 2008: Said he was "deeply ashamed" of the child sex abuse scandal in the church and that the issue had sometimes been "very badly handled" by church officials.

September, 2006: Said he was "deeply sorry" for remarks in a speech that linked Islam with violence, triggering outrage in the Muslim world.

John Paul II

2001: During a trip to Greece, made a sweeping apology for wrongs committed by Roman Catholics against Orthodox Christians.

2001: Issued a formal apology to the indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands for injustices perpetrated by Roman Catholic missionaries.

2000: Visiting a Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, said the church was "deeply saddened by the hatred, acts of persecution and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews by Christians at any time and in any place."

2000: Asked forgiveness for sins of Catholics through the ages, including wrongs inflicted on Jews, women and minorities.

1999: Denounces persecution of Jan Hus, 15th century religious reformer and precursor of Protestantism who was burned at stake.

1998: In document on Holocaust, expresses remorse for cowardice of some Christians during Nazi persecution of Jews.

1995: During trip to Czech Republic, asks forgiveness for violence by Catholics against Protestants during 16th century Counterreformation.

1995: Issues document saying church is "truly sorry" for discrimination or mistreatment of women.

1992: Visiting Senegal, begs for forgiveness for Christians who were involved in the slave trade.

1992: Declares the church was wrong to condemn astronomer Galileo for maintaining Earth is not the center of the universe.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce