Word: benedict
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Benedict XVI got 9/11, a worldwide issue, and the priest sex abuse scandal, an in-house problem that captured the horrified imagination even of Americans outside the Catholic house. And Benedict's reaction this past week to the abuse issue would have to be scored a public-approval knockout, from his unexpected broaching of the topic on the plane over, to his moving expression of "deep shame" at his Wednesday prayer service with his bishops, to his private meeting with the victims of abuse and his acceptance from Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley of a book containing the names...
...perils of getting specific on policy were underlined after Benedict made some admirably nuanced comments about immigration: rather than simply restate the U.S. bishops' position that there should be a "viable" path to citizenship for undocumented aliens, he recommended hospitality in the short term, but said the long-term solution to the problem was to help raise the quality of life in the countries they are fleeing. Apparently, even that was too much for Representative Tom Tancredo, a Catholic-turned-evangelical Presbyterian and illegal-immigration foe, who engaged what might be called a bit of old-school Catholic-baiting...
...popemobile descended the ramp, the sound of bagpipes from above mixed with the sorrowful tune of a single cello player below. Benedict stepped out near the bottom of the ramp to walk the final 35 yards. Amidst all the surrounding concrete and work equipment, he looked particularly slight of build in simple, but heavy white papal vestments for the cold morning. His normally brisk walk was even brisker than usual, seemingly eager to arrive before the pascal candle to pray. Silently he knelt down, and remained on his knees, eyes open, but otherwise lost in his prayer for more than...
...Pontiff's handling of the issue. Or, less cynically, it could equally well be the expression of his own obvious compassion and concern for the spiritual and mental health of the victims and the American church. Unquestionably, Cardinal O'Malley deserves some of the credit. He reportedly urged Benedict to include Boston, the sex-abuse Ground Zero on his itinerary, and when Benedict declined, refused to give up, bringing the victims to the Pope...
...visits - that is, they are concerned with the encouraging and healing of a Pope's flock, not the formation of policy. And yet a pastoral statement as affecting as this one is something of a promissory note for subsequent action. At a TIME magazine luncheon for Cardinal William Levada, Benedict's successor as head of the Vatican doctrinal office (the one in charge of the most egregious sex abuse cases), we asked whether the Vatican intended to deal with the one part of the sex scandal that seems outstanding: beyond attending to victims and taking abusers out of commission, would...