The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has invited Pope Francis to Canada in part to hopefully initiate a reconciliation process with Canada's indigenous peoples and the atrocities committed at Catholic run schools for indigenous peoples. I hope very much that Pope Francis does make such a trip although at this point there is nothing scheduled. In an interest of healing, Pope Francis would be apologizing for the maltreatment of indigenous youth for decades in the schools.
I also hope that if Pope Francis does travel to Canada, that the act would be the beginning of a greater worldwide "apology tour" by the Pope around the world to hopefully help with a global healing process, apologizing for likely a century's worth of sexual abuse; it's the most damaging scandal in direct victimization in the Church's history.
I'm not as knowledgeable as others are about Church history, but has any Pope traveled the globe yet apologizing for the sexual abuse? Either way I hope Pope Francis will do this as well as future Popes.
When Catholics confess their sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (aka "Confession") a common closing prayer is: "I'm sorry for these (ie the sins just confessed) and all the sins of my past life." Although Catholics believe that sins confessed in Confession are forgiven by God once and for all (and therefore don't have to be re-confessed over and over and in fact shouldn't be), being sorry for prior sins is a way of showing how contrite you were. It's for this same reason that I think all Popes from Francis onward should apologize for the sexual abuse. I don't think The Church has been outspoken enough about this and I think it's been a major factor in the global sex abuse scandal remaining a gaping wound with little to no healing at all. It's such an egregious thing that I think sack cloth and ashes wouldn't be uncalled for.
Perhaps Pope Francis should actually implement an addition of a prayer of contrition specifically mentioning the sex abuse that would be prayed at all Masses either in the Prayers of the Faithful or perhaps the Eucharistic Prayer.
I also hope that if Pope Francis does travel to Canada, that the act would be the beginning of a greater worldwide "apology tour" by the Pope around the world to hopefully help with a global healing process, apologizing for likely a century's worth of sexual abuse; it's the most damaging scandal in direct victimization in the Church's history.
I'm not as knowledgeable as others are about Church history, but has any Pope traveled the globe yet apologizing for the sexual abuse? Either way I hope Pope Francis will do this as well as future Popes.
When Catholics confess their sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (aka "Confession") a common closing prayer is: "I'm sorry for these (ie the sins just confessed) and all the sins of my past life." Although Catholics believe that sins confessed in Confession are forgiven by God once and for all (and therefore don't have to be re-confessed over and over and in fact shouldn't be), being sorry for prior sins is a way of showing how contrite you were. It's for this same reason that I think all Popes from Francis onward should apologize for the sexual abuse. I don't think The Church has been outspoken enough about this and I think it's been a major factor in the global sex abuse scandal remaining a gaping wound with little to no healing at all. It's such an egregious thing that I think sack cloth and ashes wouldn't be uncalled for.
Perhaps Pope Francis should actually implement an addition of a prayer of contrition specifically mentioning the sex abuse that would be prayed at all Masses either in the Prayers of the Faithful or perhaps the Eucharistic Prayer.
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