Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 26 september 2018

Pope: Priestly abuse scandals driving Catholic faithful away

By NICOLE WINFIELD Upon arriving Tuesday,
JARI TANNER Francis praised Estonia's
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — social and economic trans-
Pope Francis acknowl- formation in the quarter
edged Tuesday that priest- century since the 1991 Sovi-
ly sex abuse scandals are et collapse. But he warned
outraging the Catholic that a certain "existential
faithful and driving them ennui" can set in when soci-
away, and said the church eties lose their cultural roots
must change its ways if it and put their faith in tech-
wants to keep future gen- nological progress alone.
erations. "One of the evident effects
Francis referred directly to of technocratic societies is
the crisis convulsing his pa- a loss of meaning in life and
pacy on the fourth and final the joy of living," he said. In-
day of his Baltic pilgrimage, terpersonal and intergener-
which coincided with the ational bonds can be lost,
release of a devastating depriving young genera-
new report into decades of tions of foundations to build
sex abuse and cover-ups in a common future, he said.
Germany. Estonia is considered both
Francis told young people one of the most tech-ad-
in Estonia, considered one vanced countries in Europe
of the least religious coun- Pope Francis arrives to celebrate a Mass in Freedom Square, in Tallinn, Estonia, Tuesday, Sept. 25, and one of the least reli-
tries in the world, that he 2018. gious societies in the world.
knew many young people Associated Press More than half of Estonia's
felt the church had nothing 1.3 million people profess
to offer them and simply put you off." ers were simply moved saw five decades of Soviet- no religious affiliation. The
doesn't understand their It was a very public admis- to other dioceses without imposed religious repres- Lutheran and Russian Or-
problems today. sion of the church's failures congregations being in- sion and state-sponsored thodox churches count the
"They are outraged by sexu- in confronting sex abuse formed about their past. atheism, as well as the most followers of those who
al and economic scandals scandals, which have The abuse scandal, which World War II-era occupa- do.
that do not meet with clear roared back to the head- erupted in Ireland in the tion by Nazi Germany. In her welcoming speech,
condemnation, by our un- lines recently with revela- 1990s and subsequently Francis has been warmly Estonian President Kersti
preparedness to really ap- tions of abuses and cover- in Australia and the U.S., welcomed in the region, Kaljulaid acknowledged
preciate the lives and sen- ups in the U.S., Chilean and now threatens Francis' own even if Catholics are only a that rapid changes taking
sibilities of the young, and now German churches. papacy since his record majority in Lithuania. Esto- place amid robust eco-
simply by the passive role On Tuesday, the Ger- as cardinal and pope has nia only has 6,000 Catholics nomic growth — something
we assign them," he told man bishops conference proven uneven on the nationwide, but residents particularly visible in the
Catholic, Lutheran and released a report which topic. A former Vatican still seemed to welcome Baltic nations — shouldn't
Orthodox young people in found that some 3,677 ambassador has accused Francis' inclusive mes- mean the "vulnerable
the Kaarli Lutheran Church people — more than half Francis of rehabilitating an sage. Some 10,000 people among us" are neglected.
in the Estonian capital of of them 13 or younger and American cardinal who flocked to his final Mass in a She presented Francis with
Tallinn. nearly a third of them altar slept with seminarians. chilly but sun-soaked Free- a special digital ID card
He said the Catholic boys — were abused by Francis has declined to re- dom Square near Tallinn's giving foreigners access to
Church wants to respond clergy between 1946 and spond to the accusations, charming medieval center. dozens of digital services in
to those complaints trans- 2014. but the Vatican is expect- "For me, it's in my heart the Baltic country, ranging
parently and honestly. The report, compiled by ed to. Francis' visit to Tal- what I believe, and I think from medical services to
"We ourselves need to be university researchers, linn marked the last stop in Francis is this kind of 'papa' signing legal contracts and
converted," he said. "We found evidence that some a four-day pilgrimage that who wants to change," said filing taxes. The govern-
have to realize that, in or- files were manipulated or also took him to Lithuania Marko Tubli, a Tallinn resi- ment says over 37,000 peo-
der to stand by your side, destroyed, many cases and Latvia. The trip aimed dent. "A church is not like ple from dozens of coun-
we need to change many were not brought to justice to encourage the Christian 'You must be this way and tries have been registered
situations that, in the end, and that sometimes abus- faith in the Baltics, which this way.' It is more open." as "e-residents" in Estonia.q