concidering the apology speach Kevin Rudd gave to the stolen generation we have a high bench mark when it comes to apologies from orgainsations to the groups they have hurt Now its expected that the pope will make an apology to the victoms of abuse by priests and for how the church has treated them afterward. So what would be concidered acceptable? The reason i ask is both because of an interview with the biographer of Pope John paul II and because of the parents who flew in from england to try to get a meeting with the pope to discuss there 2 daughters who were abused by a priest. There eldest commited suicide possably because of the treatment the church gave her when she tried to get an apology from them. Now in this interview this morning this guy (cant rember his name sorry) was saying that if people expect to hear "I am sorry" they may well be disapointed but comming off Rudd speach i cant see how anything else would be accepted
For comparision this is an extract from the apology speach kevin rudd made and in my opinion the most important part of the whole speach, the full text is in the national apology thread here: http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=77561 but this is the bit i think any apology by the pope will be weighed against: .... To the stolen generations, I say the following: as Prime Minister of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the government of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the parliament of Australia, I am sorry. I offer you this apology without qualification. We apologise for the hurt, the pain and suffering that we, the parliament, have caused you by the laws that previous parliaments have enacted. We apologise for the indignity, the degradation and the humiliation these laws embodied. We offer this apology to the mothers, the fathers, the brothers, the sisters, the families and the communities whose lives were ripped apart by the actions of successive governments under successive parliaments. In making this apology, I would also like to speak personally to the members of the stolen generations and their families: to those here today, so many of you; to those listening across the nation—from Yuendumu, in the central west of the Northern Territory, to Yabara, in North Queensland, and to Pitjantjatjara in South Australia. I know that, in offering this apology on behalf of the government and the parliament, there is nothing I can say today that can take away the pain you have suffered personally. Whatever words I speak today, I cannot undo that. Words alone are not that powerful; grief is a very personal thing.....
Remove the priests from their positions, remove the Archbishops that provided the priests with help to hide them from where they were sent and then let others know the same would happen to anyone else that ever molested a child. The damage is done but he could also state that he will let the police arrest any priests in the future that molest children and then be given a trial, no more bailing them out when they make a crime against the community.
actually he doesnt have a choice in that, the police are a state matter and the goverment isnt going to play favorites with the church like that and nor are the courts
Actually the Pope does have a say. He can make new doctrines within his church if he really wanted to change the way they are acting. Of course his Cardinals would have to back him on his new doctrines.
cosmic, the arch bishops would be in breach of the law if they didnt pass ANY infomation on child abuse on to the police ANY person involved in the church is automatically a manditory reporter and there for its a criminal offence under australian law NOT to report ANY infomation about those crimes on to police and CPS. This even overrides attonie cliant privlage, medical in confidence ect
well this was his apology but i havent yet read it, that being said the atached artical doesnt put it in a very good light http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24044338-5006301,00.html
