Pope Benedict XVI: "Many of you found that, when you were courageous enough to speak of what happened to you, no one would listen."

Confronting a sex abuse scandal spreading across Europe,  Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday apologized directly to victims and their families in Ireland, expressing “shame and remorse” and saying “your trust had been betrayed and your dignity has been violated.  . . .  Many of you found that, when you were courageous enough to speak of what happened to you, no one would listen." . . . 

In 2001 the Vatican issued a directive by Benedict, then a cardinal, reiterating a strict requirement for secrecy in handling abuse cases. The directive also gave the authority in handling such cases to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Benedict was prefect of the congregation from 1982 until becoming pope in 2005.

NY TIMES, March 20, 2010
by Rachel Donadio and Alan Cowell