WYD Panama: Pope calls sexual
abuse ‘a horrible crime’
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| Brenda Noriega (center left, pink blouse) has lunch with Pope Francis.(Vatican Media) |
At lunch on Saturday with 10 young participants in WYD in
Panama, Pope Francis responds to a question from a US pilgrim regarding the
clerical sexual abuse crisis.
By Devin Watkins
“The Holy Father reminded us that it is important to
accompany the victims [of clerical sexual abuse], that it is important to walk
with the people and to be present to them, that it is important for us to be a
united Church.”
That was how a young WYD pilgrim from the US described Pope
Francis’ response to her question about the clerical sexual abuse crisis.
“He called it a horrible crime,” she said.
Brenda Berenice Noriega, a youth minister in the Diocese of
San Bernardino, California, was speaking at a press conference on Saturday.
As part of the US delegation of young people attending World
Youth Day in Panama, Ms. Noriega had lunch with Pope Francis, along with 9
others, in St. Joseph Major Seminary.
“For me as representative of the US and a minister of young
people, it means a lot. It’s to keep in mind that all the victims of the sexual
crisis are heard,” she said, “and that the Church is committed to supporting
them, and that the Church is committed to walking with them.”
Ms. Noriega said it was important for her to hear the Pope
express “his affirmation about the support of the Church to the victims.”
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