“He understands”

In today’s St. Louis Platform there’s an excellent article with interviews from two of the victims of clerical sexual abuse who met with the pope in Washington, DC. Here are some excerpts, but the whole thing is worth reading:

Olan Horne, 48, a survivor of clerical sex abuse, believes that Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States marks a turning point in the way victims of sexual abuse are treated in the Catholic Church.

“I saw it in his face, heard his voice. He understands,” said Horne, one of six survivors who met Thursday with the pope. He spoke with the St. Louis Beacon from his Massachusetts university food service office . . . .

“Benedict told the bishops to meet with survivors as he had; this pope gets it,” said Horne. “I like to say that I’m from Missouri and you are going to have to Show Me. Benedict showed me.” . . .

A woman on the Boston archdiocesan victims’ assistance staff handed the pope a book with 1,600 first names written on its pages. Cardinal Sean O’Malley explained to the pope that the list was of all victims of clerical sexual abuse in the Boston archdiocese who had asked its bishops for pastoral care. Pages were left blank to symbolize those victims who had never voiced their tragic complaints, O’Malley explained.

“The pope was shocked at the number,” Horne said. “You could see the sincerity of the shock on his face. Benedict had never known that there was that many in Boston. He was stunned. So was the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi. That was a moment. They do have a tough role.”

Via Whispers in the Loggia