Word: painfulness
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...ABUSE Benedict restated the "deep shame" at the scandal that he first announced on the plane to Washington; and recalled how individual bishops have spoken to him about "the enormous pain that your communities have suffered when clerics have betrayed their priestly obligations and duties by such gravely immoral behavior." But the Pontiff also seconded American Cardinal Francis George's introductory statement that the abuse was "sometimes very badly handled" by the Church hierarchy. The acknowledgement that guilt might rest not only with pedophile priests, but with members of the church hierarchy, provoked surprise. "That is significant, that...
...prayer, which has already been made public, at the site of the 9/11 attack on New York City. It begins, "O God of love, compassion, and healing, look on us, people of many different faiths and traditions, who gather together at this site, the scene of incredible violence and pain." He asks that God give "eternal light and peace" to all who died there, in the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pa. The prayer ends: "Comfort and console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love...
...suppose my tuition pays for), that luck and its consequences can seem very difficult to justify. We grow accustomed to seeing the same unfortunate people in the Square: the same sleeping bags outside the Coop at night, the same cajoling man selling Spare Change News outside Au Bon Pain, the same lady on the benches in front of Bank of America. Familiarity breeds blind comfort, and somewhere along the line, we begin to see our neighbors in the Square as the nameless homeless, instead of people much like ourselves. We cease at last to be sympathetic to their misfortunes...
...Though it is not part of the official program of events, the Vatican has not ruled out such an encounter, and may be holding on to the option as a possible surprise stroke of spontaneity where the Holy Father's human contact might help assuage some of the lingering pain. It will be important to follow closely both the words and any potential gestures to see if the reserved pontiff manages to address the suffering of victims, and Catholics in general, with both sincerity and substance...
...return again to the front lines of government. His cost-cutting announcements this week involved just a few of the 166 programs he's targeted to claw back over $10 billion in annual spending, with the aim of balancing the French budget by 2012. That will provoke considerable pain and resistance from the public, and doubtless more slides in polls. That, in short, is Sarkozy's dilemma: to be an effective, decisive leader, he'll also have to be a very unpopular...