Benedict XVI: a personal confession from the heart!

“Mea maxima culpa” for the abominable sin of abuses and errors committed. Reflection on the Christian gaze of the Pope emeritus who expresses his "deep shame", his "great sadness" and his "sincere request for forgiveness".

Andrea Tornielli

As he had promised, Benedict XVI took the floor. He spoke as a Christian. A Christian now nearly 95 years old, who is living the last years of his long life in an increasingly fragile body, with a weak voice but a lucid mind, and who once again found himself at the center accusations and controversies. This brief and heartfelt response stems from his deep faith. Joseph Ratzinger drew from the penitential act of daily Mass the common thread of his personal and moving “confession” . At the beginning of each Eucharistic liturgy, the celebrant and the faithful repeat the “mea culpa” which ends with the words “mea maxima culpa”. It is the awareness of being a sinner and therefore of needing to beg for mercy and forgiveness. This is a "penitential" attitude , as far from the triumphalism that regards the Church as an earthly power, as far as the corporate style that reduces its life to an organization, structure, and strategies. She is also far removed from the widespread attitude of always judging others and their faults, instead of questioning her own. 

The days following the release of the report were an opportunity for him to “examination of conscience” and a personal “reflection” on what had happened. The Pope Emeritus says he has looked into the eyes of "the consequences of very great guilt" in meeting those who have been abused, and learned that "we ourselves are drawn into this very great guilt when we neglect it or when we do not face it with the necessary determination and responsibility, as has happened and is happening too often” . He expressed his “deep shame” , his “great sadness” and his “sincere request for forgiveness”for all abuses and errors, including those which occurred during his tenure in the respective places where he served, Germany and Rome. He writes, without clearing himself, that he himself feels challenged by the attitude of those who, even today, underestimate the phenomenon, that is to say those who sleep, just like the apostles slept on the Mount of Olives, leaving Jesus alone to pray and sweat blood in the face of the abyss of sin. He asks “brothers and sisters” to pray for him.