Tagle apologizes for ‘sins’ of the Church

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle yesterday apologized for the “sins” committed by the Catholic Church.

During the third and last day of the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization at the University of Santo Tomas, Tagle said the Catholic Church was asking for forgiveness for all its shortcomings.

“In memory of Pope John Paul II and his collaborators before the year 2000 including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, I humbly, in the name of my brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church and even the Christian communities, beg for pardon. We want to say how sorry we are for the sins, the hurts that we have inflicted on Catholics and non-Catholics,” Tagle said.

His offer of apology earned him applause from the audience.

“We want to ask forgiveness to the poor that have been neglected, the hungry, the thirsty, that we did not see or hear. We ask forgiveness from the women who have been degraded, dehumanized. We ask forgiveness of children who did not experience caring. We want to ask forgiveness from the youth who did not find our communities always a home that will welcome them. We want to ask forgiveness of orphans, of widows, of the vulnerable for they are not my God. How come we have not loved them?” the prelate said.

“To those who have hurt us, we want to say we forgive you. We love you and we can start to build a world of love, justice, truth, not just for ourselves but for the next generation,” he added.

Tagle also reminded the crowd that it was Jesus Christ who taught the faithful to ask for forgiveness for their sins and to also learn to forgive others.

“Forgiveness is a gift from God that we beg God to give us. It is not just a gift to be given to us, it becomes a mission also,” he said.