The Vatican No. 2 says that while the church sex abuse scandal has been painful and damaging to the church it has also shown the need for a spiritual renewal.Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone made the comments to priests who gathered Wednesday at the Vatican to mark the end of the church's Year of the Priest — a year that has been marred by hundreds of revelations of priestly abuse and Vatican inaction to stamp it out.
Bertone says the revelations harmed the credibility of the church.
But he says they also provided a "providential realization" of the need for a "new season of spiritual renewal and rebirth."
Pope Benedict XVI is expected to address the priests Thursday night during a vigil service.
SIC: AP