In an apparent reference to the sex abuse crisis, Pope Benedict said Thursday that it was time for the Catholic Church to do penance for its sins.
While the Vatican has not released the pope’s entire homily from a mass with the Pontifical Biblical Commission, the Vatican newspaper, the Osservatore Romano, reported that Benedict said Christians have often avoided the word penance, since it seems too harsh.
“Now, under the attacks of the world that speak to us of our sins, we see that being able to do penance is a grace, and we see that it’s necessary to do penance, to recognize what’s wrong in our life,” Benedict said.
“The suffering of penance, that is, of purification and transformation, that suffering is a grace, because it’s renewal; it’s the work of divine mercy,” he said.
Pope Benedict has come under increasing pressure to speak out about the sex abuse crisis in the Church, and especially in his native Germany. His most extensive comments came last month in a letter to the Catholics of Ireland.
Benedict marks five years as pope on April 19.