Pope Benedict XVI Monday called on Roman Catholics to reflect on how sexual abuse exploded within the church's ranks in a Christmas speech.
The pontiff also blamed the scandal on child pornography, sexual tourism and the moral relativism of the 1970s.
In
his seasonal speech to bishops and cardinals, Benedict rounded up
highlights of his year, briefly mentioning his visits to Malta, Spain
and Portugal before dwelling at length on his "unforgettable" visit to
England and Scotland.
He started his roundup, in the Sala Regia of
the Vatican's apostolic palace, by tackling the "unimaginable" wave of
revelations of sexually abusive priests in Europe and the US, who
"profoundly wound people in their childhood, damaging them for a whole
lifetime".
"We must ask ourselves what we can do to repair as much
as possible the injustice that has occurred," he said. "We must ask
ourselves what was wrong in our proclamation, in our whole way of living
the Christian life."
Benedict has been challenged on his record
of tackling abuse while he was the Archbishop of Munich and the head of
the Vatican office dealing with abuse cases.
The Pope likened
today's church to the beautiful woman covered in dust and wearing a torn
dress who was seen in a vision by the 12th century German saint
Hildegard.
But in his festive speech – which he traditionally uses
to impart key messages to senior Vatican figures – he insisted the
abuse scandal should be placed in a wider social context.
"We cannot
remain silent about the context of these times in which these events
have come to light," he said, citing child pornography, "that seems in
some way to be considered more and more normal by society."
Sexual tourism in the third world was "threatening an entire generation", he added.
Returning
to a theme he had discussed in the past, Benedict said the modern
world's moral relativism was at fault.
"In the 1970s, paedophilia was
seen as a natural thing for men and children," he said, arguing that the
Catholic church had the task of taking on and defeating relativism.
Roberto
Mirabile, the head of an Italian anti-paedophilia campaign group, La
Caramella Buona, said: "When Benedict puts priestly abuse in this
context, it sounds like he is trying to justify it. I appreciate the
pope's willingness to crack down, but I still don't see this great
commitment within the Vatican to shed light on a problem which is
ongoing."
Mirabile said he was awaiting responses from the Vatican over newly-emerging cases of abuse in Italy.
Benedict said the church's insistence on irrefutable religious truths over relativism had driven the conversion to Catholicism of the 19th century theologian John Henry Newman, who was beatified by the pontiff during his visit to England in September.
Skirting
over his other foreign trips this year, the Pope singled out his speech
at Westminster Hall, in London, given in front of four former prime
ministers, parliamentarians and religious leaders, and claimed that the
church had a role in reinforcing the moral values – currently "at risk" –
that underpin modern democracy.
SIC: TG/UK