Pope John Paul II comes to Toronto to celebrate the Catholic faith with young people from all around the world.

Youths Move Beyond Sex Scandal, Stress Positive Aspects of Church

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

TORONTO (CNS) -- In the wake of priestly sex abuse scandals, World Youth Day's gathering of hundreds of thousands of young people -- many accompanied by their parish priests -- seemed a paradox to some observers.

But as young people listened to church leaders at the Toronto events and spoke about their reasons for coming, it became clear that many are ready to move beyond the sex abuse story and refocus on the positive aspects of their church.

"I'm trying to get that out of my mind because people are using it against us. I'm here to celebrate the good things," said Sarah Brumbaugh, 15, from Wilmington, N.C.

She said that, when her Protestant friends ask her about clerical sex abuse, she feels like Catholics are being attacked.

"I tell them what I know, that it's a hard time for us but we're going to get through it," she said.

A group of Massachusetts pilgrims said they'd heard and read enough about sex abuse.

"The media hypes it up and twists it," said 22-year-old Matthew Rapoza of Fall River, Mass. "True, some of the priests were not educated well, but I know the majority would never do anything like that. They love the kids."

His friend, 14-year-old Christian Guliano, chimed in: "We're around priests a lot and none of them are like that."

At dozens of catechesis sessions in Toronto churches July 24-26, young people had an opportunity to question bishops and cardinals on any topic they chose. Some asked about the recent sex abuse scandals, but in a way that indicated they wanted to stop hearing so much about it.

Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., president of the U.S. bishops' conference, addressed thousands of young people July 24 and received just one question about sex abuse, from a young woman who wanted to know how to respond to people who kept bringing it up.

He said Catholics must respond with love and charity, but also with pride in their church, knowing that abusers are a small minority. His words drew applause.

At the other end of the city, a similar session was being held for about 100 youths by Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of Minneapolis-St. Paul, head of the U.S. bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse.

Asked how young people can respond in faith to the recent scandals, Archbishop Flynn asked them to remember that the church has always belonged to saints and sinners, and that the struggle toward holiness is never ending. He said he was convinced the church would emerge "more radiant" from this crisis.

The young man who posed the question was Rob Cui, a Canadian seminarian who said the scandal had caused internal church tensions that need to be resolved. But he said it was probably a bigger issue to seminarians and priests than to the young people attending World Youth Day.

In fact, the young people in the audience seemed far more interested in Archbishop Flynn's main topic -- the true story of a priestly hero, U.S. Father Stanley Rother, who was gunned down by a Guatemalan death squad in 1981 after speaking out on behalf of the poor.

At the vocations center at Exhibition Place, the site of many World Youth Day events, organizers said the turnout was larger than expected.

As group after group of youths traversed the city of Toronto, many walking and joking with their local priest, their overwhelming sense of trust in the clergy was evident.

"I feel safe here. All the priests I know are wonderful," said 17-year-old Heather Smith of Vancouver, British Columbia.

German pilgrim Christopher Silbernagec, 18, said he was aware of recent clerical sex abuse cases in Germany. But he said it was a minor problem and certainly was not on people's minds at the Toronto celebrations.

A few blocks from the World Youth Day headquarters, a dissident group called Challenge the Church was holding its own "alternative" program of activities, including a workshop on sex abuse.

Speaking at one session July 24, David Gagnon, president of the Canadian chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said he was disappointed that his request for a meeting with Pope John Paul II had been turned down. He said the Vatican told him the pope's schedule in Toronto would not allow for such a visit; instead, the papal nuncio sent him a copy of the pope's remarks to U.S. cardinals on the issue last spring.

The sex abuse workshop and the rest of the "alternative" program drew quite a bit of press but very few of the young people who came for World Youth Day. They were busy attending sessions with bishops, like that held by Australian Archbishop George Pell of Sydney.

Archbishop Pell was asked about sex abuse -- once again, by a youth wondering what to tell non-Catholics when they ask about the recent scandals. In his response, the archbishop said that, in his view, abortion was a bigger moral scandal than sex abuse. He later explained that he was not trying to downplay abuse, but wanted to make the point that abortion always involves a destruction of a human life.

His comments ended up on the front page of Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail.

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Copyright (c) 2002 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Used with permission.