Sunday, December 09, 2012

Clerical abuse is greatest barrier to evangelisation: Cardinal

The clerical abuse scandal is the "most important and powerful barrier to the New Evangelisation," according to the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Pell, The Tablet reports.

Speaking in Glasgow at a conference on evangelisation organised by the Bishops' Conference of Scotland, Cardinal Pell added:

"Few, if any, people 50 years ago expected the dark stain of sexual abuse to have spread so widely across the Church."

While victims in Australia had received "some measure of justice, considerable compassion and many practical helps ... we are committed to doing more."

Citing another challenge for the Church, he said that in his experience, "most young Australian Catholics talk like relativists, even when their moral views are correct. No longer is there any instinctive acceptance of moral truths, except perhaps in ecology or social justice."