Pope John Paul II Asks Forgiveness for Church's sins.

Papal Apology John Paul II Asks Forgiveness for Church’s Sins
Pope John Paul II delivered a historic, sweeping apology for the sins of the Roman Catholic Church over the centuries. (Massimo Sambucetti/AP Photo)

By Bill Blakemore

V A T I C A N C I T Y, March 13 — Never before has a pope publicly asked God’s forgiveness for the horrors committed by groups of Catholics over the centuries — often in the name of the Church.
On Sunday, Pope John Paul II did.

The Day of Pardon Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica was a highlight of the pope’s campaign for a collective examination of conscience as his church begins its third millennium.
The pope’s homily did not single out specific groups or historical moments, but special prayers during the Mass addressed several general categories of oppression. Among these were sins against other cultures, such as the cruel colonization of native peoples. Sins against Jews, in all past centuries. And sins against women, from witch hunts to their relegation to second-class status.

U.S. Bishops Follow Suit
Bishops around the world and in the U.S. followed suit. In Boston and New York on Sunday, apologies were made to Muslims, and in Santa Fe, to Native Americans.
Several gay groups are objecting to having been left off the pope’s list, although the Cardinal of Los Angeles did make an apology to gay people, as well as to victims of sexual abuse by clergy.

Asks Pardon for Past Violence
The 79-year-old pope, in a purple robes, leaned on his silver staff during the Mass. His voice was clear but his hands shook, a symptom of Parkinson’s Disease.
     “We are asking pardon for the divisions among Christians, for the use of violence that some have committed in the service of truth, and for attitudes of mistrust and hostility assumed toward followers of other religions,” John Paul said in his homily.
     In preparing for the Mass, Vatican officials cautioned against viewing the event as a “spectacular self-flagellation.”
     John Paul’s spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, said last week that pope would ask “pardon from God,” not from individual groups who have been wronged.

Church leaders had explained prior to the ceremony that since the pope would be trying to cover 2,000 years of past sins, the references would of necessity be “rather general.”
To accomplish this, the liturgy grouped the sins into seven categories, such as sins against “The Rights of Peoples” and sins against “The Dignity of Women.”
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Reuters and The Associated Press also contributed to this story.

Quotes From Apologies
     Cardinal Francis Arinze on sins against women and “the unity of the human race:”
     “Let us pray for women, who are all too often humiliated and marginalized, and let us acknowledge the forms of acquiescence in these sins of which Christians too have been guilty.”
     Response by the pope:
     “Lord God ... at times the equality of your sons and daughters has not been acknowledged, and Christians have been guilty of attitudes of rejection and exclusion.”