The senior Roman Catholic clergyman in Canada, seeking to get rid of church baggage and turn over a new leaf, asked forgiveness on Wednesday for sexual abuse and discrimination committed by Catholics in the past.In an open letter published in newspapers in the province of Quebec, Quebec Archbishop Marc Ouellet said that society in the Canadian province was burdened by wounded memories and that the Roman Catholic Church's moral authority had been damaged.
"It is time to take stock and make a fresh start," Ouellet wrote.
"Mistakes have been made which have tarnished the image of the Church and for which I humbly ask forgiveness."
He spoke of the abuse of youth by priests, "causing them serious and traumatic damage that shattered their lives."
Ouellet also sought forgiveness for certain "narrow attitudes" before the 1960s, when what is known as the Quiet Revolution ended the pervasive Catholic grip on Quebec society.
He said some Catholics tended towards anti-Semitism, racism and indifference to natives, and discrimination against women and homosexuals.
"Please forgive all this wrong," he said.
He made his statement in the context of a Quebec government commission that is touring the mainly French-speaking province to examine the extent of "reasonable accommodation" Quebec society should make to religious and other minorities.
Ouellet said he was imitating a general confession of sins in 2000 on behalf of Catholics by the late Pope John Paul II.
Since then the U.S. Catholic Church has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to settle abuse claims, starting with a scandal that erupted in Boston in 2002.
Claims have also been made in Canada, though on a smaller scale.
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