Pope Francis meets with sexual abuse victims in Philadelphia

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Special Series – Fugitive Fathers: How the Catholic Church’s alleged sex abusers hide and preach in Latin America

PHILADELPHIA, September 27^th, 2015 (EFE) Pope Francis met Sunday in Philadelphia with five victims of sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic clergy, telling them that those committed crimes “will be held accountable.”

The pontiff, who finished his visit to the United States on Sunday, met with the sexual abuse victims at St. Charles Borromeo seminary in Philadelphia.

“Within our family of faith and our human families, the sins and crimes of sexual abuse of children must no longer be held in secret and in shame,” the pope told the victims of clerical sexual abuse.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia and Bishop Fitzgerald, director of the diocesan office for child protection in Philadelphia, attended the meeting with the abuse survivors.

The five adults – two women and three men – were abused sexually as children by members of the clergy, the Vatican said.

“As we anticipate the Jubilee Year of Mercy, your presence, so generously given despite the anger and pain you have experienced, reveals the merciful heart of Christ. Your stories of survival, each unique and compelling, are powerful signs of the hope that comes from the Lord’s promise to be with us always,” Francis said.

Pope Francis met with bishops afterward, discussing clerical sexual abuse and other issues.

“I hold the stories and the suffering and the sorrow of children who were sexually abused by priests deep in my heart. I remain overwhelmed with shame that men entrusted with the tender care of children violated these little ones and caused grievous harm. I am profoundly sorry. God weeps,” Francis told the bishops.

The pontiff addressed consumerism and the state of the institution of marriage.

Pope Francis criticized the fixation on materialism in modern society, saying that “consumerism determines what is important,” does not “favor bonding and has little to do with human relationships.”

“The result is a culture which discards everything that is no longer ‘useful’ or ‘satisfying’ for the tastes of the consumer. We have turned our society into a huge multicultural showcase tied only to the tastes of certain ‘consumers,’ while so many others only ‘eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table,’” Pope Francis said, citing a passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew.

The pontiff told the bishops that the Christian and civil concepts of marriage had diverged.

“Until recently, we lived in a social context where the similarities between the civil institution of marriage and the Christian sacrament were considerable and shared. The two were interrelated and mutually supportive. This is no longer the case,” the pope said.

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