[1]A crowd estimated by the Vatican at 150,000 filled St. Peter’s Square on Sunday in a major show of support for Pope Benedict XVI over the clerical sex abuse scandal.
Pope Benedict said he was comforted by such a “beautiful and spontaneous show of faith and solidarity” and again denounced what he called the “sin” that has infected the Church and needs to be purified.
Citing estimates from the Vatican police, the Vatican press office said 150,000 people had turned out for the demonstration organised by an association of 68 Italian lay groups. Despite a drizzling rain, the balloon-and banner-toting faithful from around Italy overflowed from the piazza; banners hung up on Bernini’s colonnade encircling the piazza read “Together with the Pope,” and “Don’t be afraid, Jesus won out over evil.” Such large crowds are usually reserved for major holiday Masses and canonisation, not for Pope Benedict’s brief Sunday blessings from his studio window.
The crowd interrupted Pope Benedict frequently with applause and shouts of “Benedetto!” and the Pontiff himself strayed from his prepared remarks to thank them again and again. “Thank you for your presence and trust,” he said. “All of Italy is here.”
Pope Benedict didn’t refer explicitly to the scandal, but repeated his recently stated position that the scandal was born of sins within the Church, which must be purified. “The true enemy to fear and to fight against is sin, the spiritual evil that unfortunately sometimes infects even members of the Church,” he said.
The Vatican has been mired in scandal amid hundreds of reports in Europe, the United States and elsewhere of priests who raped and molested children while bishops and Vatican officials turned a blind eye. Pope Benedict’s own handling of cases has also come under fire. Rome’s centre-right mayor Gianni Alemanno was in the crowd, along with other pro-Vatican Italian officials. —AP
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[1] http://archive.asianage.com/int1jpg-482