Eakins Oval in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art was full of the faithful and of Jumbotron screens on Sunday—a merging of the Catholic Church and the modern age that might have seemed ironic with other Popes, but not with this one.
This Philadelphia Mass attended by nearly a million marked the end of Pope Francis’s 10-day visit to the United States.
According to the New York Times article “Pope Francis Ends Visit With Mass After Meeting Bishops and Inmates,” the Pope has been anything but shy, and has urged reform on a number of issues in “a week of big public statements—about fighting climate change, abolishing the death penalty, preserving religious liberty, welcoming immigrants.”
With a Pope who has granted women who have had abortions a year to be absolved for what, in the Catholic faith, is considered a sin worthy of excommunication and who has written an encyclical on climate change, these statements may not be surprising. But many were surprised and hopeful when the Pope turned his gaze to sexual abuse—a long-standing issue within the Catholic Church.
According to a transcript released by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Pope Francis met with victims of abuse on Sunday. During this time, he stated that “Words cannot fully express my sorrow for the abuse you suffered,” and went on to say that “clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children.”
These comments came after what might be considered the Pope’s only major misstep during his time in the United States: his praise and comfort of American bishops in Washington “for their handling of the crisis” before meeting with victims (According to The New York Times, “Pope Francis, on Flight Home, Strongly Condemns Child Sexual Abuse”). Unfortunately, his remarks on accountability were met with skepticism.
These victims of abuse need action, not just words, from the leader of the officials of the church that abused them. These statements cannot just be a public relations move on behalf of a particularly politically savvy Pope. The victims need to see a true move towards accountability, so that the message of acceptance that this Pope is preaching is not undermined by instances of sexual assault within the church he is preaching to.