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LA STAMPA

What Pope Benedict XVI Still Has To Say About Sex Abuse Scandal

Editorial: Pope Benedict uses Holy Week, and the coming beatification of John Paul II, to face down the Church's demons. And acknowledge its durability.

Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Andrea Tornielli

VATICAN CITY - The pedophilia scandal that exploded in the Catholic Church last year is still very much on Pope Benedict XVI's mind, as reflected in his words on Holy Thursday and the meditation prepared for Good Friday's the Way of the Cross procession.

Juxtaposing the sex abuse crisis and the coming beatification of his predecessor John Paul II, Benedict referred on Thursday to the abandonment of faith in the West. He said that "for all the shame we feel over our failings, we must not forget that today too there are radiant examples of faith."

The atmosphere today is less tumultuous compared to the media frenzy surrounding the Church last spring, at the height of the scandal. The Holy See has toughened its norms to prevent sexual abuses against minors, and to intervene swiftly against those who are responsible of these heinous crimes. A study recently published by the Archdiocese of New York shows that in the past year the number of abuse cases across the United States has fallen drastically.

Yet Benedict has always avoided citing statistics or being defensive. He has stayed away from the argument that unfortunately this sad phenomenon does not only concern the Church, but also families and professionals who are in contact with children. In that, Benedict is misunderstood within the Church hierarchy, even by some of his own aides.

As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and a close aide to John Paul II, Benedict was behind the reform of ecclesiastical norms that followed the first wave of sexual scandals in the United States a decade ago. But he has carefully avoided presenting himself as the standard-bearer of a "zero-tolerance" policy, or pitting his own pontificate against that of John Paul. Others, however, fail to understand that praising Benedict's stance in contrast to the old one means hurting the institution of the church as a whole.

Ratzinger knows that for more than two decades he was John Paul's closest aide, and he is about to beatify his predecessor, whom he venerates and holds up as an example of sainthood. He knows that for decades the widespread attitude within the church has been to avoid public scandals and that too many times abuse victims have been pushed away, treated like enemies.

That's why, even if most of the scandals happened in the past, sometimes a distant past, he has not backed away, has not lashed out against media campaigns and has taken responsibility upon himself. The pope has met with abuse victims during his trips abroad. He has called upon the whole Church to turn to penitence, self-purification and justice. He went as far as to say, in May 2010, that the greatest persecution to the Church comes not from external enemies, but from the sin within.

The pope has not kept silent over the seriousness of the abuse; rather he turned it into a chance for all Christians to remind themselves that evil exists, that they must confess their sins and find their support in Christ, who took that sin upon himself.

Eleven years ago, as he was presenting to the press John Paul's request for forgiveness for the Holy Year, Cardinal Ratzinger said that "recognizing a sin is an act of sincerity with which we can make people understand that the Lord is stronger than our sins."

This brings to mind an episode in the life of Cardinal Consalvi, who served as Vatican Secretary of State in the 19th century under Pope Pius VII. Told that Napoleon intended to destroy the Church, the Cardinal was sure it wasn't possible. "Not even we managed to destroy it."

This is what, in spite of everything, makes Benedict serene.

Read the original article in Italian

Photo - Sergey Gabdurakhmanov

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food / travel

Inside The Search For Record-Breaking Sapphires In A Remote Indian Valley

A vast stretch of mountains in India's Padder Valley is believed to house sapphire reserves worth $1.2 billion, which could change the fate of one of the poorest districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Photo of sapphire miners at work in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district

Sapphire mining in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district

Jehangir Ali

GULABGARH — Mohammad Abbas recalls with excitement the old days when he joined the hunt in the mountains of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district to search the world’s most precious sapphires.

Kishtwar’s sapphire mines are hidden in the inaccessible mountains towering at an altitude of nearly 16,000 feet, around Sumchan and Bilakoth areas of Padder Valley in Machail – which is one of the most remote regions of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Up there, the weather is harsh and very unpredictable,” Abbas, a farmer, said. “One moment the high altitude sun is peeling off your skin and the next you could get frostbite. Many labourers couldn’t stand those tough conditions and fled.”

Abbas, 56, added with a smile: “But those who stayed earned their reward, too.”

A vast stretch of mountains in Padder Valley nestled along Kishtwar district’s border with Ladakh is believed to house sapphire reserves worth $1.2 billion, according to one estimate. A 19.88-carat Kishtwar sapphire broke records in 2013 when it was sold for nearly $2.4 million.

In India, the price of sapphire with a velvety texture and true-blue peacock colour, which is found only in Kishtwar, can reach $6,000 per carat. The precious stone could change the socio-economic landscape of Kishtwar, which is one of the economically most underdeveloped districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

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