David Kerr, Catholic News Agency:
In his eight and a half minute address, the Pope explained to that the Council Fathers had wanted to renew the external forms of the Mass so as to “make it easier to enter into the inner depth of the mystery,” and therefore “lead people to a personal encounter with the Lord, present in the Eucharist.”
…
Touching upon the troubled recent history of the Church in Ireland, the Pope said the “mystery” as to why some clerics would abuse those in their care can perhaps be explained by the fact that “their Christianity was no longer nourished by joyful encounter with Jesus Christ: it had become merely a matter of habit.”
I hate to harp on the sex abuse scandal. Such things are not exactly unique to the Catholic Church. But when Popes go around calling gross hypocrisy and sociopathic predation a “mystery” in the same speech as they talk of making accessibly the “mystery” of the Eucharist, they sound completely clueless.
Here’s the answer to the “mystery,” Mr Pope: Children require protection. Pedophiles and ephebophiles require exposure, condemnation, and punishment.
