Pope Benedict XVI and his Popemobile arrived today in New York for a trip that will culminate with yet another Mass at Yankee Stadium. (Fenway has yet to host a Papal visit.)

But the story for Boston's Catholics, who live at ground zero of the Catholic priest abuse scandals, was the private apology the Pope offered to 5 or 6 abuse victims yesterday in Washington, D.C.

While the gesture is nice, it certainly doesn't seem significant enough to compensate for the suffering that so many experienced at the hands of trusted church officials. The private audience granted to a handful of people doesn't begin to compensate the 1,500 abuse victims whose names are inscribed in the handbound book that Boston's Cardinal Seán O'Malley pointedly gave the Pontiff. The idea that there are sinners at the highest levels of the church can't excuse the church's role in both ordaining abusers and, worse, silencing the abuse scandals for years.

There are thousands of known victims of sexual abuse by priests, and probably many more who will never come forward. Acknowledging that transgressions took place is a step, but the church has much more to do to compensate for the abuses—not only physical, but psychological as well—that it's wrought. A priest praises the symbolic nature of the gesture, but part of what it symbolizes is also the church's shortcomings and inability to deal effectively with a difficult situation. The fact that priests took advantage of their positions of power to prey on young children is horrendous, and the situation should have been handled more quickly, more pervasively, and more sympathetically by the Catholic church.

The pope's address today to the United Nations spoke highly of peace and justice in commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, Pope Benedict XIV didn't convey how the church is actively contributing to human rights. His own sage observation that “it is indifference, or failure to intervene, that do the real damage” is a whopping instance of irony when juxtaposed against the church’s failure to intervene on behalf of abuse victims. If the church's response to the human rights violations of its members is any indication, its role (if any) in promoting international human rights may will be too little, too late.

On a more positive note, the pope did make the point—to which our government might pay attention—that "The promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and for increasing security." That's "promotion of human rights," G-Dub, not "war on terror.” We know you’re not Catholic, but you might take heed of at least that statement.

The New York Times also reports the pope is scheduled to visit the Park East Synagogue in NYC later today, marking the first time a pope has visited a synagogue in the United States. He also met with Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and Jain religious leaders in Washington last night, which is an encouraging step.

All in all, the pope seems to be presenting a good front now--too bad the church couldn't have responded more sympathetically when its abuses were first reported.

The opinions expressed in this post are those of its author.

Image by Agência Brasil, provided licensed to Wikimedia Commons.