[THS] Pope Says Church Persecuted by Its Own Sins of Sexual Abuse

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aVZHcfgWU.ck&pos=9

Pope Says Church ‘Persecuted’ by Its Own Sins of Sexual Abuse

By Jeffrey Donovan

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Pope Benedict XVI said the Roman Catholic Church is being
persecuted by the sins of its own clergy who have committed sexual abuse, Vatican
spokesman Rev. Federico Lobmardi said.

“The greatest persecution of the church doesn’t come from enemies on the outside,
but is born from sin inside the church,” the pope told reporters aboard the plane
carrying them from Rome to Portugal today, Lombardi said by phone.

The pontiff, in some of his strongest remarks yet on the sex scandal rocking the
church, also said that “forgiveness is not a substitute for justice,” Lombardi said, in
an apparent reference to making abusive priests face civilian justice.

While the church has always had internal problems, “today we see it in a really
terrifying way,” the pontiff said.