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| Pope Francis |
Pope Francis said on Tuesday the Catholic Church had to acknowledge a history of male domination and sexual abuse of women and children and repair its reputation among young people or risk becoming โa museumโ.
But, in a major document in which he mentioned an array of scandals and again admitted significant failings by clergy, he also said the Church โcould not agree with everything some feminist groups propose,โ a clear reference to the Churchโs ban on a female priesthood.
The pope is grappling with criticism over the Churchโs response to a decades-long clerical sexual abuse crisis that has gravely damaged its standing around the globe and seen it pay out billions of dollars in compensation.
Francis made his comment in a 50-page โApostolic Exhortationโ about a month-long meeting of bishops in October on the role of young people in the 1.3 billion-member Church.
Francis, 82, urged young people not to be disillusioned by the sexual abuse scandal, but to work with the overwhelming majority of priests and other clergy faithful to their vocation.
He said clergy sexual abuse was โa tragedyโ and asked young people to help the Church in โthis dark momentโ.
โA living Church can look back on history and acknowledge a fair share of male authoritarianism, domination, various forms of enslavement, abuse and sexist violence,โ the pontiff said.
โWith this outlook, she can support the call to respect womenโs rights, and offer convinced support for greater reciprocity between males and females, while not agreeing with everything some feminist groups propose,โ he said.
Some womenโs groups seek a female priesthood. The Church has ruled this out, arguing Jesus chose only men as his apostles.
WINNING BACK TRUST
In the final document of their synod last year, bishops recommended โthat everyone be made more aware of the urgency of an inevitable changeโ in the role of women in the Church, but the pope did not directly address that on Tuesday.
His document also did not address demands by women participants at the synod that they be allowed to vote during such meetings in the future.
Francis acknowledged the Church had to win back many young people who see it as insignificant in their lives or a nuisance.
He said such a view of the Church can โhave serious and understandable reasons: sexual and financial scandals; a clergy ill-prepared to engage effectively with the sensitivities of the young.โ
The Church had to keep and attract young people by better explaining its doctrine, he said.
โA Church always on the defensive, which loses her humility and stops listening to others, which leaves no room for questions, loses her youth and turns into a museum,โ he said.
And while he said the Church should be โattentive to the legitimate claims of those women who seek greater justice and equalityโ and that young people had complained of a โlack of leading female role models,โ he offered no new ideas. Only a handful of women hold positions of authority in the Vatican.
This month the all-female staff of the Vatican newspaperโs monthly magazine on womenโs issues resigned, saying a new editor sought to put them โunder direct male controlโ.
Recent stories in the magazine include one on sexual abuse of nuns by priests. The editor has denied their accusations.
