Vatican City, Oct 5, 2018 / 10:26 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney apologized to young people on behalf of Church leaders in a speech at the Synod of Bishops Friday.
“For the failure of too many bishops and others to respond appropriately when abuse was identified, and to do all in their power to keep you safe; and for the damage thus done to the Church’s credibility and to your trust: I apologize,” Fisher said Oct. 5, while speaking in the Vatican’s synod hall in the presence of Pope Francis and more than 200 bishops.
Youth delegates auditing the 2018 Synod of Bishops were also present in the synod hall in a historic first.
The archbishop’s apology extended beyond the Church’s mishandling of sex abuse to address catechetical and pastoral failures, apologizing on behalf of priests for “poor preaching, catechesis or spiritual direction that fails to convert.”
Fischer offered an apology to young Catholics “for when we’ve sold you short not encouraging you to live heroically your baptismal call to holiness and the paschal path to life through self-renunciation.”
“For the times when you were searching for your sexual, ethnic or spiritual identity, and needed a moral compass, but found Church people unsympathetic or ambiguous: I apologize,” he said during the fifteenth ordinary general session of the Synod of Bishops, which is treating young people, the faith, and vocational discernment.
The archbishop told CNA that greater transparency is needed in the Church, particularly with the handling of sex abuse cases.
“We have to be absolutely honest about this. We have to own up to the times that we have failed,” he said, “That means we have to investigate it properly, get outsiders with some objectivity to help us to investigate it, get to the truth of the matter and own up to that.”
The Catholic Church in Australia recently accepted the majority of recommendations offered by a five-year government inquiry examining sex abuse in Australian schools, churches, and sports clubs by Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Australia’s bishops also worked with the government to set up a program to financially compensate victims this summer.
One of the lessons Fisher recommends to bishops facing similar inquiries into the Church’s past sexual abuse cover-up in other parts of the world is to “be ashamed, be humiliated, and be purified in the process.”
“Through humiliation comes humility, through being ashamed comes repentance and greater holiness,” he explained.
The full text of Archbishop Fisher’s intervention is below:
Today in your presence, Holy Father, and amidst my brother bishops, I want to say sorry to young people for all the ways we’ve failed them.
For the shameful deeds of some priests, religious and lay people, perpetrated upon you or other young people just like you, and the terrible damage that has done; and for the failure of too many bishops and others to respond appropriately when abuse was identified, and to do all in their power to keep you safe; and for the damage thus done to the Church’s credibility and to your trust (IL 59 and 66): I apologize.
For the times Catholic families, parishes and schools have failed to introduce you to the person of Jesus Christ, his saving word, and his plan for your life; and for the times we’ve seemed to you unwelcoming, distant or harsh, or have not demonstrated the sheer joy of being Christians; and for the times when you were searching for your sexual, ethnic or spiritual identity, and needed a moral compass, but found Church people unsympathetic or ambiguous: I apologize.
For when we’ve sold you short not encouraging you to live heroically your baptismal call to holiness and the paschal path to life through self-renunciation; or when we’ve provided too little youth ministry or other support, so you’ve found living as a young person of faith and ideals lonely in a secular, often cynical world; or when unbeautiful or unwelcoming liturgies have failed to inspire or include you, and when you’ve been denied the Church’s treasury of examination of conscience, reconciliation, adoration, pilgrimages, penances and devotions: I apologize.
For poor preaching, catechesis or spiritual direction that fails to convert, and for lack of imagination or enthusiasm for that new evangelization to which the recent popes have called us; and for our failures to demonstrate God’s mercy, as Pope Francis has insisted we must, and to involve you in campaigns for Christ-centred justice and in works of mercy; and for families, dioceses and religious orders that with a contraceptive mentality have given up on generating new vocations and so have not nurtured yours: I apologize.
To any young person we have let down in these or other ways: from the bottom of my heart I apologize to you. And to the Lord I pray: Kyrie eleison.
But I say to young people also: never give up on Jesus because of our failures. Never give up on the Church that you can help make more faithful. Never give up on the world that, with Christ and the Church’s help, you can make a better place.
In Jesus Christ, the Ancient of Days is made young – for you. The Creator of this beautiful universe comes close to your life to save you. He calls you to ‘come, follow’ him and become his young disciple. He sends you out as a missionary to our world. You can be a hero, for nothing is so exciting as the adventure of the Gospel!
So: when you are lost and need direction, know that the young Jesus is the eternal Way for you! When you are confused and need sound teaching, know that the young Jesus is the eternal Truth for you! When you are searching for the vocation that will most fulfil you, know that the young Jesus is eternal Life for you!
In the presence of the Holy Father and amidst my brother bishops, I recommit myself to young people and to drawing them closer to Christ who is always there for them.
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Corruption runs deep…. The poor suffered greatly under the dictatorship… Let us pray for their safety and freedom….even their courts are corrupt… The nobel prize winning candidate should be installed as the rightful leader…
Pope Leo ought to keep the Catholic Church out of politics. He has enough on his hands trying to keep homosexuals out of the clergy.
“Ensuring the rule of law enshrined in the Constitution….”
What on earth does that purport to mean?
What is the motivation for this statement by the Pontiff Leo? Are Maduro’s militia threatening Catholics in Venezuela? Or is this just some incense from the Vatican Secretariat of State, in brief intermission at a New Year’s soirée with their handlers in the CCP?
The author of this article repeatedly and falsely referred to the criminal dictator Maduro as ” President”. He is not the President. Open and fair elections took place approximately 1.5 years ago and Maduro lost by not a slim margin. He refused to step down and tightened his illegal control by careful selection of his illegal government officials ( note his VP Delce Rodriguez) and strong arming his military. No one in his handpicked regime should be allowed to ever hold office again. They are all complicit in his widespread criminal acitivity including the fostering of foreign and domestic terrorist organizations in Venezuela, the U.S. and around the world. Note the poor who fled the country when he stole power are celebrating his capture and cheering the U.S.A. on. What our military did under the Trump administration was downright heroic. This could have been a very bloodied destructive attack but with many months of detailed planning and interdepartmental cooperation this came down swiftly and with minimal human and material loss. Compare to the suffering and losses inflicted on the Venezuelan people not to mention Americans and other foreign citizens due to Maduro’s massive drug smuggling. I’m tired of blaming victims of crime and offer no apology for our government actions to bring justice to where justice was not and evil to where evil belongs. I pray for all victims of human violence and injustice. Pray for the people of Venezuela and I pray for Maria Corina Machado that she will ultimately lead her country as the rightfully elected President of her country.
The chattering and political classes also refer to Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President”. He cancelled the Ukrainian elections, went after opponents and banned certain religious groups. Like Maduro, he usurped power after his term expired.
Ultimately some people are really enamored of the type of individual that acquires, maintains, enhances and retains political power. The tells are frequent references to things like “leadership” and “political will”.
The evil empire–that is, the USA–strikes again.
Take heart, Venezuelans, the USA will lose.
“Evil may have its hour, but the Lord has his day!”–Fulton Sheen
Whatever the merits or demerits of his removal, Maduro was a dictator. Venezuela lost its sovereignty in 1999 when his predecessor Hugo Chavez took over.
Whatever the merits or demerits of this action, Any nation loses its sovereignty when a dictator assumes control. Venezuela lost its sovereignty when Hugo Chavez took over in 1999.
I’m so happy LPLXIV decided to weigh in on this compelling matter of faith and morals. Did he have anything to say in 1999 when Chavez took over or 2013 when Maduro assumed control?