Pope Benedict calls Catholic Church “Wounded Sinner”

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Pope Benedict today celebrated the 5th anniversary of his Papacy. He is the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics and he was quoted today of saying the church is a “wounded sinner.”

The German-born pontiff, who turned 83 last Friday, struck the reflective tone while thanking 46 cardinals at a private lunch in the Vatican for their support in a difficult time, the official newspaper L’Osservatore Romano reported.

Benedict attended the lunch after a weekend visit to Malta, where he met eight men sexually abused by priests in his latest step to counter the scandal that has rocked the church.

“The pontiff alluded to the sins of the church, recalling that it, a wounded sinner, felt all the more the consolation of God,” L’Osservatore Romano wrote of the lunch gathering.

It quoted a saying from St Augustine, who called the church a pilgrim who shuttles between “the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God.”

Benedict has avoided mentioning the spreading sexual abuse scandal in public but made several indirect references to the church’s sins and the need to repent. Hundreds of abuse cases, many decades old, have been alleged in recent months in Europe.

Out around Saint Peter’s Square, Catholic pilgrims expressed concern about the scandal and support for the pope.

“The recent years have not been easy,” said Marco Bosco from Spain. “The challenge is to see that everything that happened this year is cleared up. We trust Pope Benedict to do that.”

The low-key anniversary contrasted with the optimism of his election on April 19, 2005, when the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger surprised the world with a gentle approach at odds with his fierce reputation as the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog.

In his first speech, he pledged to continue on the path of his popular predecessor, Pope John Paul, and foster Christian unity and good relations with other religions.

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