Daily Lesson from Life 19 July 2008

"Pope apologises for church sexual abuse in Australia He says those responsible should be brought to justice. -Sat, Jul 19, 2008 Reuters

SYDNEY - POPE Benedict apologised for sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Australia, saying those responsible should be brought to justice. 'I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured,' the pontiff said in a homily in Sydney on Saturday. 'These misdeeds, which constitute so grave a betrayal of trust, deserve unequivocal condemnation,' he said. 'Those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice.'

Victims of church abuse in Australia have been calling on the Pope to issue a public apology during his visit to Sydney for World Youth Day, July 15-20. Broken Rites, which represents abuse victims in Australia, has a list of 107 convictions for church abuse, but says there could be thousands of victims as only a few cases go to court.

Victims of abuse have said the Pope must not just apologise for past church abuse but implement an open and accountable system of investigating abuse claims. They say the Catholic Church in Australia continues to try and cover-up abuse."


This is a sensitive yet not longer a shocking issue in the world of religion. I picked this headline as I also witnessed the much hyped so-called 'rock star like' reception the Pope received when he landed in Sydney on TV - CNN and BBC! Thousand of people lined the streets when the armoured plated and bullet proof 'Pope Mobile' winded it's way through the better patronized parts of this beautiful city! It is a sight to behold and could easily swelled any one's head so big that he actually think he is loved and worshipped by these people and that he is God or God-like!

At the same time, I also chanced upon a documentary on BBC or CNN on the underlying tension between Muslims and the mainly White folks in Australia. It made for interesting reading and thought provoking.

Lessons for me are:

1. religion is spiritual and emotional. It it no rational. It is not something I can explain adequately. All I know is that life is complex, fate is stranger than fiction, and to solve most earthly challenges, we rely on rationality;

2. one man or woman cannot be God or God-like. It will be self-deluding to believe you are representing that creator just because people adored you and the press puts you on the pedestal. It is the position that they worship and adore. You are just performing the expected and the unexpected to their benefit do you continue to get such supports. If you strayed, they will turn on you. And rightly so!;

3. when you betrayed the trust of the people, it is harder to win them back. You have to double or treble your efforts to win back their trust. So, do the right things right right off the bat. Apologized for all you like if the victims did not pay with their lives. But if they did, perhaps apology is not enough for the people closest to the dead. While you need not lay down your life for the mistake but morally you need to take corrective actions that will prevent such misdeeds from recurring and should it even recurred to deal with it in an open, transparent, just and swift manner. Justice must be served and serve quickly!

Bless the thousands who turned up for the Pope visit to Sydney and all the best to those who hope that the Church will do more to prevent such betrayal of trust and deal with misdeed speedily and openly.