Pope Preaches Repentance

With outrage over sex abuse by the Catholic Church once again on the rise—courtesy of a fresh set of scandals—Pope Benedict XVI took St. Patrick's Day to express his concern to Irish members of the clergy. In an open letter, he acknowledged the church had been "severely shaken." "I ask all of you to read it for yourselves," he added of the letter. "My hope is that it will help in the process of repentance, healing and renewal." Hours earlier, Cardinal Sean Brady, the ranking member of the church in Ireland, used his St. Patrick's Day sermon to apologize for assisting in the coverup of child abuse allegations in the 1970s and preached introspection to the church. "Looking back, I am ashamed that I have not always upheld the values that I profess and believe in," he said.