Pope likely to address abuse

O'Malley foresees efforts for healing

Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley has urged Pope Benedict XVI to speak out about the abuse crisis, and says he is confident the pontiff will do so during his visit to the United States that begins tomorrow in Washington.

O'Malley, who will accompany the pope at many appearances during the six-day trip, said that as the papal trip was being planned, he joined other bishops in emphasizing the importance of the abuse issue in discussions with Archbishop Pietro Sambi, who, as apostolic nuncio, is the pope's ambassador to the United States.

"We certainly tried to make it very clear to the nuncio that the bishops are expecting the Holy Father to address the abuse crisis, and the nuncio assured us that he was confident that he would," O'Malley said. "We don't have access to the Holy Father's speeches, but I feel confident that the Holy Father is very aware of our needs and our expectations and we will not be disappointed."

O'Malley said he is hopeful that the pope's remarks will help a church still reeling from the abuse crisis, six years after it exploded here in Boston.

"I can't forecast what he's going to say, but I feel certain that he will address the abuse crisis and try to bring about healing in the church," O'Malley said in an interview Friday at the chancery in Brighton. "Obviously this is such an important issue in the life of American Catholics, and I know that he's very aware of it, so I feel sure that he will address it during his trip."

O'Malley said he would like to hear the pope "express sorrow and regret to those who have suffered and to their families," and also to hear the pope discuss the church's efforts to prevent further abuse through programs.

As for whether the pope should meet with victims - a step the nuncio has suggested may happen this week - O'Malley said "that's really his call." But O'Malley said he has found his own meetings with victims of abuse to be helpful.

"Certainly, if you have the opportunity to meet with survivors, it becomes very apparent that this kind of tragic activity in childhood often marks a person for life and is a source of great distress," O'Malley said. "It also, I think, has given me an opportunity to try and reach out to survivors and help them to realize that in the Catholic Church, we have a great sorrow for what happened to them."

O'Malley, 64, was named archbishop of Boston by Pope John Paul II in 2003. He replaced Cardinal Bernard F. Law, who resigned after criticism of his failure to remove abusive priests from ministry. O'Malley immediately set about settling hundreds of claims filed by people who said they were abused by priests, and then selling property and closing scores of parishes in an effort, in part, to restore the archdiocese's financial condition. He was named a cardinal by Benedict in 2006, and said he has had two substantive, one-on-one conversations with him during visits to the Vatican, as well as multiple encounters in larger meetings and worship services.

O'Malley, who had pushed hard to encourage Benedict to visit Boston, said he is disappointed that this trip will include stops only in Washington and New York, but, in a joking reference to the complexity of hosting a papal visit, said, "he added 10 years to my life by not coming."

O'Malley said he believes that Boston was considered for the visit because of its association with the abuse crisis, but that ultimately Vatican officials decided to limit the pope's travels in deference to his age and health. Benedict will celebrate his 81st birthday Wednesday, while in Washington, and will mark the third anniversary of his pontificate Saturday while in New York.

O'Malley pointed out that several thousand Bostonians will attend papal events this week, including 3,000 pilgrims who will travel by bus to Yankee Stadium on Sunday. Almost all of the area's Catholic university presidents, including the Rev. William P. Leahy of Boston College, as well as the superintendent of the archdiocesan school system, will be on hand for the pope's address to Catholic educators in Washington Thursday. Most of the seminarians from Boston's two seminaries, St. John and Blessed John XXIII, will be in Yonkers Saturday for a rally with the pope.

O'Malley said there will also be representatives of the Archdiocese of Boston present Wednesday on the White House lawn, where as many as 12,000 people are expected to gather to greet the pope, and on Saturday at St. Patrick's Cathedral, where the pope is to say a Mass for priests and nuns.

O'Malley, who still fondly remembers the first time he saw a pope - Paul VI - when he was a teenage seminarian in Rome, says he believes Benedict's visit can play an important role for Catholics.

"There's a lot of buzz out there," O'Malley said. "After John Paul II's death, a lot of people thought, well, the interest in the papacy is going to wane - he was such a public figure - and yet, to everyone's surprise, the Wednesday audiences in Rome have continued to grow under Benedict's papacy.

"I think the Holy Father's funeral that was attended by millions of people, and the election of the pope that was transmitted worldwide by television and the Internet, and so forth, raised up in people's consciousness the office of the papacy, and so I think in our Catholic people there is an interest and an excitement about this visit."

O'Malley said that, in addition to the abuse issue, he will be particularly interested to hear Benedict's remarks about social justice and other issues during his speech to the United Nations Friday, as well as what he has to say to Catholic educators. But, O'Malley said, the trip is primarily about religion.

O'Malley said he believes the image of Benedict as a doctrinal enforcer was a caricature perpetuated by the media.

"John Paul II was perhaps more of a poet and more of a philosopher, but Pope Benedict is a consummate professor."

Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.