"You are not weak if you admit to mistakes and learn from them. You are weak if you ignore your mistakes!" - Pope Stephen X
Pope Stephen made his fist impression by opening old wounds and apologizing. The was a group of cardinals that did not want change and only wanted power. They became wary about the new Pope and afraid of what may come. They saw any change as a sign that they had less power. So there was a lot of whispering at the Vatican, After the Jewish leader's surprise, Cardinal Lorenzo noticed that the pope had several meetings with bishops and priests from all the world. The meetings were veiled with secrecy, and not even Lorenzo was allowed to attend these meetings. He did not like this.
A meeting was held shortly with the cardinals. The Pope sat on his throne listening to the cardinals talk about Vatican finances, the number of tourists and the problem with the old sewage system. The pope sighed and said, "The problem with the Church today is that the clergy has become administrators and politicians. This is from the priest to the cardinal. We lost the ability to be apostles of Christ. Here we are talking about tourists and finances, but we should be talking about how do we bring back God to the people? How do we be his apostles? I want each one of you to look into your soul and ask are you an administrator or an apostle. Pray to God for guidance."
This was a strong message for some cardinals and some like Cardinal Lorenzo took it as a personal insult. It was then that he told a friend of his that he made a mistake by supporting Pope Stephen.
The Pope went on a state visit to Ireland. Pope Francis was the last pope in Ireland, which was a trip because he did not say much about the abuse in the Catholic Church. The atmosphere was better this time, as Pope Stephen was the first Irish pope. It was estimated that 700.000 people attended an open-air mass where he spoke.
Cardinal Lorenzo was a bit worried. Will the Pope say something that he should not? He was confident that the Pope would not, as after all the Church made it known its policy over the last decades concerning the abuse. The Church was to be seen as trying to do something about it. Of course, very little happened. Several of Lorenzo's friends were accused of molesting boys, but they were never put on trial.
During the homily at mass, the Pope went silent. Then he addressed the people, "So many... So many children's lives have been ruined by men they should have trusted. So many Childhoods and their innocence have been stolen. This was done by priests who abused the trust children have. Some of these children have had the courage and stand up and tell the world about the hell they were forced to experience. These people were hurt once again by the Church that turned a blind eye to the abuse and protected their own priests."
Cardinal Lorenzo was biting his lip.
"This will change now." Pope Stephen continued, " On behalf of the Catholic Church, I would like to apologize to each person that was abused. I would like to apologize to each person that was hoping for justice. Apologies are not enough. The Church will have a zero policy of anyone that is accused of molesting a child. These priests will not be hidden. They will have to prove their innocence in a civil court of law. "
Cardinal Lorenzo had his head in his hands now.
Pope Stephen was not done, "It is time for justice and reconciliation. I have created an office in the Vatican in the last few weeks, with priests and bishops from across the world. This office will look at every case of abuse the Church had. All our documentation will be given to the police, and we will comply if that priest is to be prosecuted in a civil court. No case is too old for our office. It will be up to local prosecutors to decide if it goes to court."
There was huge applause and overnight, Pope Stephen was a hero in many people's eyes. Internationally, his popularity went up. Even the Catholic haters were speechless. The only thing they could say was that it was too late to do anything.
One would think that Pope Stephen was proud of himself. There is a story from his brother that when he secretly visited his parents on the Irish trip that he took a nap. When he woke up, he was sweating. He explained to his family that he dreamt that his grandmothers spoke to him in the dream. She told him that he had so much to do, and for everything he did, he would get a new enemy. The last thing he remembered about the dream was that his enemies will do the Devils work."
The brother told me that he also overheard Cardinal Lorenzo speaking with the Pope. "You should have told me about this new office. Many will see it as a weakness of the Church. You should have told me! Have you anything big planned for Brazil? I should know now!"
"I am still praying for guidance about Brazil." The pope responded.
"Listen, you were elected as the Pope because I allowed it. In fact, as the Vatican secretary of the state, I have the real power. You were voted as the Pope because you were to listen to me. I would advise you to start doing this, for the sake of Mother Church and yourself!"
The Pope smiled and whispered, "keep your enemies close." It's not certain if Lorenzo heard this. He only heard the pope say that it was time for prayer
ns 18.68.41.137da2
