With critics claiming the Pope’s reputation has been shipwrecked by his inaction over the clerical abuse of children, His Holiness visited Malta last weekend to commemorate the 1950th anniversary of the Apostle Paul’s shipwreck near the island, an event recorded in the book of Acts.
Interestingly, the two issues came together on Malta when the Pope met with eight Maltese men, victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Pope Benedict promised them with tears in his eyes that the Catholic Church would seek justice for paedophile priests and implement ‘effective measures’ to protect young people from abuse.
While this meeting had not been foreshadowed by the Pope, he gave three other powerfully relevant reasons for his visit to Malta.
‘The second reason is that… I am aware that Malta loves Christ and loves His Church which is His Body, and that it knows that, even if this body is wounded by our sins, the Lord still loves His Church, … and His Gospel is the true force that purifies and heals.
Faith can be born through a shipwreck, faith tells us God loves his church even if wounded by our wrong doing, and faith through charity should work fo a dignified life for refugees… add these comments to his tearful meeting with abuse victims and we have hope that the Pope may find a just and gracious way through the current ‘shipwreck’. PH
PS – I’m not Catholic, but faith and truth is where you find it and we can enriched by it, religion aside.
PPS – I’m glad to mention Malta in Utterance as I have discovered I have at least one reader from there!! See the flag counter in the Utterance sidebar.
What a valuable comment and I would not have read it had I not had Utterance to take me to it. Thanks Peter.
Thanks Aud. That’s part of why I do this. Things catch my attention, a word here or headline there, and with a bit research, it’s amazing what you find. To then bring it together in one place might mean people get to read some important things that otherwise would get lost in the billion words (and worlds) that are the internet.